


Unwritten Oaths

by reylocalligraphy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, BB-8 is a house elf who may or may not have eaten a porg, Ben has another girlfriend stuck in the midst, Captain Phasma to the max, Darcy Lizzy Hand Touch, Divination, Dueling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Foreshadowing, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Honeydukes, Magic, Maz is a way cooler Trelawney, Mutual Pining, Patronus, Quidditch, Rey is an honorary Tico, Rey kicks ass at Quidditch, Shirtless Ben, Slow Burn, Snoke is a girl, Teenage Drama, They share a bathroom, This is for you Flydam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-06-23 16:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15610749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylocalligraphy/pseuds/reylocalligraphy
Summary: “I'd rather be dead than ever stuck in a room with Ben Solo,” Rey hissed.Six years later, Head Girl Rey Johnson finds herself stuck sharing dormitories, meetings, a bathroom, and a hell of a lot more with Head Boy Ben Solo, her sworn enemy at Hogwarts. She discovers that her eleven-year-old self was quite wrong - in fact, she’d actually love to be stuck in a room with Ben Solo.If only Ben wasn’t such a stuck-up, scruffy-looking nerfherder every time he opened his mouth… and that damn school-wide fan club of his would stop following him everywhere…





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A massive thank you to my two favorite franchises, Harry Potter and Star Wars, for making many of my darker days much brighter.

  


 

Rey hit the ground running.

 

Loose strands of her hair whipped carelessly against London’s harsh winds, as her three buns bobbed up and down. Her feet rapidly whirled across the dirty gray sidewalks, the soles of her shoes hanging on by mere threads.

 

Rey had been running for her whole life.

 

She had ran from her parents when she was five, when her father yelled at her mother for giving birth to a freak and that they must “dump the freak somewhere,” and her mother had cried words of agreement. She had ran from Unkar Plutt, who had kidnapped seven-year-old Rey and worked her like a slave, until she executed her successful escape two years later.

 

Right now, she was running from a lady, dressed in the finest clothes Rey had ever glimpsed - a plum blazer, black trousers, and a necklace of perfectly round, white pearls.

 

That sight alone screamed danger to Rey. No one that rich should be seeking someone like Rey, a mere nobody, much less _know her name_.

 

The dark alleyways, an impossible maze to any other individual, were imprinted firmly in Rey’s mind. She weaved around buildings, skulking behind cardboard boxes and garbage bins, before dashing out to another alleyway.

 

At last, Rey no longer heard any ringing footsteps behind her. She halted her running, crouching down to gulp down some much needed oxygen.

 

A faint _crack_ sounded behind her. She immediately swiveled around to the sight of the rich lady. _How did she get here? Is she holding a wooden sti-_

 

Before Rey could complete her thoughts, the woman donning the luxurious clothes opened her mouth. “STUPEFY!”

 

The world went dark. Rey was falling, falling…

  


===

  


Rey’s eyelids fluttered open, blinking to regain her vision. She kneaded her temples, _why was her head hurting so bloody much?_ Her surroundings finally came into focus, depicting an extravagant chandelier, with sparkling crystal prisms dangling from it.

 

She jolted upwards at the unfamiliar sight, scrambling to sit up. Rey immediately regretted it, wincing as a shock of pain struck through her head.

 

“Where the bloody hell am I?” she spat out. Her eyes roamed the room, before finding their target - the wealthy woman who had kidnapped her in the alley.

 

Sitting on a plump maroon sofa across from Rey, she merely chuckled, the lines around her eyes crinkling in amusement.

 

“Would you like some tea, Miss Johnson?” The elderly woman gestured towards the tea tray on the table.

 

The eleven-year-old girl didn’t answer; if looks could kill, Rey’s glare at that moment could have murdered an entire nation.

 

The woman, unfazed at Rey’s rebellious behavior, crossed her legs and smoothed down her already wrinkleless blazer. She innocently glanced back at Rey, waiting for the girl to respond.

 

It was a battle of the wills. Strangely enough, the silence between them unnerved Rey even more.

 

Finally, she broke the reticence. “Where am I?” Rey blurted out.

 

The lady uncrossed her legs and smirked. “You’re my guest,” she replied.

 

Rey huffed. Her feet swung over the couch, stepping onto the marble floor. “You’ve kidnapped me,” she shouted, “and I deserve to know why.”

 

The woman raised an eyebrow at Rey’s outburst, almost impressed. “I suppose,” she stated, her spoon lightly clinking her porcelain teacup.

 

“My name is Leia Organa, and I am the headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one of the most premier institutions of magic in the world,” Leia began to explain. “We’ve been trying to reach you for months, since you turned eleven. But the letter could never find you - for some reason, you seem to have no address -”

 

“Hold on,” Rey interrupted. Her mind was popping with question marks, and she _definitely_ needed to lead Leia away from questioning the whereabouts of her physical address. “Did you say _magic_?”

 

“Yes, of course!” Leia cheerfully replied. “You’re a witch, Rey.”

 

“Yeah right,” the young girl snorted. “I’m no one, certainly _not a witch_! I don’t fly on broomsticks and turn food poisonous.”

 

Leia tutted, the skepticism clear in her tone. “Has anything ever … _happened_ to you? Anything strange that you cannot explain?”

 

“Anything _strange_?” Rey repeated in astonishment. She was ready to exclaim a resounding ‘no,’ before a memory suddenly rose to the front of her mind.

 

_When Rey was five years old, a few months before she left her family, she bounced around the kitchen, clapping her chubby hands together at the sight of food on the table. Her mother giggled, before lifting the plate of cookies away from Rey._

 

_Little Rey slammed her palms on the table, furiously reaching out for the cookies again. Suddenly, the plate floated into the air, wobbled, and plummeted to the ground, shattering into hundreds of shards._

 

_The noise scared the five-year-old girl so much that she burst into her tears. Rey’s mother, on the other hand, looked horrified. “Go hide in your room,” she pleaded to her daughter. “Stay there and don’t let your dad know about this. I’ll come back for you, I promise.”_

 

“Yes,” she breathed out. “I have done strange things before.”

 

The corners of Leia’s lips tugged upwards. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. See, you have done magic!”

 

The echoes of Rey’s mother’s silky voice ringing in her ears instantly vanished. The eleven-year-old girl slanted away from Leia, her eyes furrowing in anger. “Magic doesn’t _exist_ ,” she hissed in denial, vehemently shaking her head.

 

_If it did, I wouldn’t have needed to live on the streets. Magic wouldn’t have let me almost die so many times._

 

The elder woman pursed her lips in frustration. “If you still don’t believe it, then allow me to demonstrate,” Leia continued. She opened her tiny purse and rummaged through it.

 

To Rey’s surprise, Leia miraculously pulled out a long wooden stick - clearly much longer than the purse’s width - and pointed it towards Rey.

 

Panic spread across the young girl’s face. Rey instinctively did a flying leap off the sofa she was sitting on, landing steadily on the hard marble floor with a splat. She’s seen what the wooden stick has done once before, and she did not want to repeat the mistake again.

 

“Oh dear, are you alright?” Leia stood over the four foot eight girl, who had curled into a protective ball on the floor. “I deeply apologize, I didn’t think. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

 

With her eyes zeroed in on the stick in Leia’s hand, Rey slowly stood up and delicately sat onto the couch again.

 

“This is my wand,” Leia explained, “and all wizards and witches use their wands to cast magic.”

 

The elder woman brandished her wand at the tea tray, purple sparks flying from its tip. Rey gasped in surprise as she watched the two delicate teacups rise into the air. Then, they began to perform flawless backflips in synchronization. A giggle slipped from her lips.

 

Leia lowered her wand back to the tray, the cups following her motion. “You see? That’s magic right there.”

 

Rey could not believe what she just saw. She extended her arm through the air above the tray to confirm that, indeed, no strings were pulling the objects. Her eyes never leaving the teacups, she picked up one for a thorough examination. Her fingers skimmed over all edges of the cup, carefully tracing the blue swirls on the porcelain.

It was just an ordinary teacup… which meant that magic actually did exist.

 

Leia laughed in amusement at the young girl’s actions. “Do you believe me now?” she asked Rey. “Would you like me to transform the teacup into a rabbit?”

 

“You can do that?” Rey marvelled, with eyes as wide as saucers. She then straightened her back, toning down her amazement. “This seems too good to be true. All of it. Nothing good ever happens to me, so this must be a hoax.”

 

Leia frowned. “Rey, you are genuinely a witch. Your name has been in our school’s book since you were born, and we’ve waited a long time for you to join us,” she stated, pulling out a pristine, white letter to the girl sitting across her.

 

Rey turned the envelope over, her fingers longingly smoothing over the beautiful calligraphy on the front.

 

“I’m sorry, Miss Organa,” she shook her head. “But I can’t. I’ve already made a life here for myself, and I can’t sacrifice all the hard work I’ve put into making sure I can survi - I mean, be happy and have fun - for some _wand waving, teacup flipping classes_.”

 

Rey shoved the letter back into Leia’s hands.

 

“Like I’ve said, this all sounds too good to be true. This world sounds amazing, but it’s not for me. I’m a mere nobody. I can’t do magic.”

 

A wave of indignation and astonishment splashed across Leia’s face. The headmistress wanted to further attempt to convince Rey to attend Hogwarts, but the resolute expression Rey donned closed that door.

 

Leia sighed in disappointment, before a lightbulb popped in her head.

 

“I understand, Rey,” Leia sympathized. “But how about this? You spend one day in the near future with our Head Girl, Paige Tico - she’s entering her last year - and her little sister Rose, who is the same age as you. I think you girls will make perfect friends!”

 

“Fr - friends?” Rey stammered, her heart racing in excitement at the unfamiliar prospect.

 

“Yes, friends!” Leia’s eyes lit up. “You, Paige, and Rose could spend a day in Diagon Alley, which is filled with magical shops and cafes. You could ask them about magic, or talk about anything! They can show you around everywhere.”

 

“Once that day is over, if you still don’t want to attend Hogwarts, I promise that we will stop reaching out to you. How does that sound to you?”

 

Rey’s lips stretched into a small grin. “It’s a deal.”

  


===

  


Her knuckles firmly rapped on the ebony door three times. Rey wiped her sweaty palms on her faded gray jeans as she awaited the response. For the umpteenth time that day, she glanced at the address on the tiny slip of paper Leia handed her a week ago.

 

The door suddenly swung open. The head of a young girl, who seemed even shorter than Rey, peeked out.

 

“Hi, I’m Rose!” the girl exclaimed jubilantly, her gravity-defying hair bouncing enthusiastically to match her energy. “Oh my gosh, you must be Rey! I’ve waited _forever_ to meet you. I’m SO happy you’re here now!”

 

Air escaped from Rey’s lungs with a distinct _whoosh_ as Rose engulfed Rey in a zealous hug. It was an unfamiliar sensation to Rey, to be crushed from all sides, but her heart swelled with joy at this gesture.

 

When Rose finally let go, and Rey could breathe again, Rose beckoned her towards the inside of the house. “Come in, come in! Place your shoes there, and put on these slippers.”

 

Rey couldn’t help the smile that creeped onto her face. Sure, she was definitely overwhelmed by Rose’s insanely fast talking speed, but she had a good feeling they would get along well.

 

“So, are you excited to attend Hogwarts?” Rose questioned. “I’m suuuuuper excited. I have waited for this ever since Paige left! I’m hoping to be in Hufflepuff just like her, what about you -”

 

“Uh, I haven’t decided to attend yet, actually,” Rey replied quietly, her thumb and forefinger fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

 

Rose’s jaw dropped. Just as she was about to bombard Rey with more questions, Paige walked into the living room. “Hi, you must be Rey! I’m Paige, and I’m sorry if Rose is overwhelming you. She tends to do that.”

 

She extended her hand to Rey, which Rey shook firmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Paige!”

 

Paige bestowed her a warm smile. “Now, let’s get going to Diagon Alley.”

  


===

  


Rey wished she had more than one pair of eyes.

 

Every nook and cranny of Diagon Alley proved to be a fantastic sight. Rey stumbled back in shock, her body laying flat on the ground, when the wall of the Leaky Cauldron disassembled to reveal the most amazing view Rey has ever encountered in her life. Color exploded in her vision.

 

She gaped at the vibrant, glittering window displays of books flying around and flapping open. Shops of every imaginable item was available - shops selling telescopes, shops selling quills, shops selling wizard robes, and even shops selling … broomsticks? _Huh, perhaps witches actually do use broomsticks._

 

“Did - did that window sign advertise bat spleens and dragon livers?” Rey asked in horror.

 

Paige nodded, chuckling at the young girl’s look of disgust. “Yes, that’s a shop selling potion ingredients! Potions is one of the classes you take at Hogwarts.”

 

Rey’s eyes widened when the trio passed by Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour. She had never had ice cream before, but it looked like the ultimate dream.

 

She couldn’t help but press her palms to the glass, peering through the window to glimpse the menu of flavors. _Sticky Toffee Pudding, Apple Crumble, Earl Grey and Lavender, Raspberry and Chocolate…_

 

Paige thought about prying the young girl off from the window, but eventually gave in and bought both eleven year olds an ice cream cone.

 

Rey happily licked her scoop of Salted Caramel Blondie ice cream, melting sugary tears dribbling off the edge of the cone and onto her fingers. It was so creamy, a perfect mix of sweetness and saltiness exploding in her mouth. Her tongue quickly darted out for more licks.

 

Within minutes, the heavenly dessert had been completely vanquished. It was the most delightful thing she had ever tasted.

  


===

  


Paige Tico was officially the coolest person Rey has ever met, Rey decided a few hours later.

 

Anyone who bought Rey ice cream was already a hero in Rey’s book. But that wasn’t all. Paige dutifully explained everything about the Wizarding World, showed her and Rose around Gringotts, and introduced Rey to magical customs. She giggled along with the two younger children, telling them jokes and never making Rey feel left out.

 

For the first time in her life, Rey felt that someone genuinely cared about her. And she was extremely happy for that.

 

As they passed by Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, Rey caught a fleeting impression of different colored ties and badges. She pondered back to an earlier conversation, when Paige and Rose educated her about the Hogwarts houses.

 

“So you’re in -” Rey scrunched up her face to recall the houses. “- the yellow and black house, right?”

 

“Exactly!” Paige smiled. “I’m a Seventh Year Hufflepuff.”

 

“Yeah, and she’s been made Head Girl!” Rose chimed in. The elder sister’s cheeks tinted pink.

 

Rey was curious about that distinction. “So what does being Head Girl mean?”

 

“Every year, the Headmistress selects a Head Boy and a Head Girl, both who are seventh year students who have excelled academically and personality-wise during their time at Hogwarts,” Paige launched into an explanation. “We essentially lead the student body and assist the school. For example, we manage the prefects, organize school events, and try to improve the school and help all students as much as possible.”

 

“Wow,” Rey breathed out, “that sounds really amazing.”

 

Rey had never been in a position in her life where she could take leadership, or control, over anything else beyond her personal survival. Seeing how confident and kind-hearted Paige was, and how willing she was to help everyone around her, made Rey realize that she wanted to become Head Girl in her Seventh Year.

 

… But that would only happen if she actually attended Hogwarts.

 

Oh, who was she kidding. With her amazing new friend in Rose, her new idol in Paige, magical flying books, and even ice cream, Rey’s heart was already sold.

 

“Rey?” Rose asked, waving her hand in her friend’s face. Apparently Rose had asked Rey a question she missed.

 

“I’ve decided that I want to go to Hogwarts,” Rey breathed out, sealing her fate.

 

Rose clapped her hands and emitted a high pitched squeal. “Yes! We can be best friends!”

 

Paige beamed. “That’s wonderful to hear! Let’s get you two official witches’ robes then, and the rest of your school supplies.”

  


===

  


“Hello, my dearies!” Madame Malkin cheerfully greeted the pair of First Year girls in front of her. “Here to get your Hogwarts robes, hmm?”

 

Rose and Rey both nodded.

 

“Excellent! You -” Madame Malkin stated, pointing to Rose. “- come here with me. And now you -” She then turned her finger to Rey. “- can sit over there, and wait with another kid until I come fetch you! He’s also a firstie, like you two!”

 

Rey scurried along in the direction Madame Malkin indicated, plopping down on a wobbly, wooden three-legged stool. She turned her head to meet the face of a boy, framed by jet-black, soft curls. A large stack of books lay on his lap, a deep scowl etched on his face.

 

“Hello!” Rey greeted. “My name is Rey. Are you also going to Hogwarts?”

 

A cursory look of bewilderment replaced his scowl. “I’m Ben, Ben Solo,” the boy responded slowly, almost as if he expected some reaction from her. Rey merely blinked at him, to his pleasant surprise. “Yes, I’m also entering First Year,” he continued.

 

“That’s great, nice to meet you Ben!” She shot him a dazzling grin.

 

Ben cocked his head to the side, still caught off guard by this mysterious girl.

 

“What’s got you in a bad mood today?” Rey asked.

 

“My father,” he bitterly replied. “He promised to come home before I left for school. Today, my mum received a letter from him saying he won’t make it back in time.”

 

“Oh, I’m very sorry about that.”

 

“Don’t be,” Ben waved off Rey’s pitying words. “Parents are stupid and not worth anyone’s time.”

 

Rey’s jaw dropped at that harsh proclamation. Her heart panged in pain as she thought about her own parents, being so willing to throw their own daughter away.

 

“Ah!” Madame Malkin sweeped into the room, dropping a pile of robes in Ben’s hands. “Here you go, Mr. Solo! Now, young lady, come with me!”

 

Rey stomped away from Ben without giving him another glance.

  


====

  


Her first meeting with Ben Solo faded in Rey’s mind, washed away by the other, much happier memories imprinted with Rose and Paige.

 

Upon learning of Rey’s living situation, Mr. and Mrs. Tico were aghast. Mrs. Tico, all 4 foot 10 of her, put down her foot and insisted on Rey living in their household for the rest of the summer, and every summer after that.

 

And that’s how Rey ended up being an honorary Tico.

 

(If anyone saw the glimmering tears in Rey’s eyes when the Ticos gifted her a new bed in Rose’s room, no one commented.)

 

Rose was absolutely ecstatic with her new roommate. She and Paige took Rey under the wing of the magical world, teaching her the wonders of flying, which she absolutely loved. Rey never felt so free before, soaring through the sky, her hair flapping in the wind.

 

Of course, Paige also made sure the two First Years skimmed through their textbooks to be prepared for school. Rose often stuck out her tongue during their study sessions, and Rey would giggle, until Paige sternly glowered at them.

 

August flew by quickly, and September 1st dawned upon them all.

 

Rey and the four Ticos woke up bright and early to travel to Kings’ Cross. Rey quickly shovelled her bowl of Cháo Ga down her throat, eager to depart.

  


===

  


“Trust me, you just run through that wall,” Rose heaved in exasperation, pointing to the brick barrier in between Platforms Nine and Ten.

 

Rey bit her lip. “I’m not sure… I don’t want to die yet.”

 

“We won’t let you die by headbutting into a wall!” Mr. Tico guffawed. “Rose, do you want to go first?”

 

“No!” Rey shrieked. “No, I don’t want Rose to die.”

 

“Trust us,” Paige said, patting Rey’s shoulder. “The wall is magical. Going through it will take you straight to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.”

 

“Don’t you want to go to Hogwarts?” Rose added. “The train’s right through that wall!”

 

“How do I know that you’re not pranking me, like when you told me we needed to fight trolls to be Sorted?”

 

“You what? Rose, we told you not to scare Rey!” Mrs. Tico reprimanded her younger daughter.

 

Rose responded with a cheeky smirk.

 

“How about we go together?” she turned to Rey. “Hold my left hand and run, on the count of three!”

 

Rey’s eyes gleamed with fear. “Um, okay,” she breathed out nervously. At least she’ll die a happy death together with her best friend.

 

“One - two - three!”

 

Rey glued her eyes shut and dashed towards the solid barrier, her left hand pulling her trunk and her right hand engulfed in Rose’s firm grip. One of her triple buns loosened in her quick sprint, curls of hair sticking out of her elastic band.

 

“Okay, stop! Open your eyes, Rey.”

 

Rey’s eyelids peeked open, then widened. An iron archway presented the words “Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.” Her head turned ninety degrees to greet the magnificent view of the Hogwarts Express, in all its scarlet glory with billowing smoke.

 

“Wow,” Rey marveled. Hordes of students and parents hustled through the platform and onto the steam train. Toads hopped and weaved through students’ legs, cacophonous meows and owl hoots adding to the chaos.

 

“Have fun this year, you girls!” Mrs. Tico exclaimed, circling the Paige, Rose, and Rey in a warm embrace.

 

Mr. Tico lifted his glasses to lightly dab at his eyes with his handkerchief. “Make sure to write us a lot of letters!”

 

Rose nodded zealously. “We will!” she piped up. “Bye mum and dad!”

 

“Thank you so much for everything,” Rey whispered to the two Tico parents.

 

They beamed in response. “Of course, Rey. You’re welcome in our home anytime.”

 

A shrill whistle sounded, signaling the train’s impending departure. With hurried last goodbyes, the three girls stepped onto the train, Paige heading straight to the prefect carriage while Rey and Rose searched for somewhere to sit.

 

After passing numerous filled compartments, they finally found a compartment with only one inhabitant. Rey shyly knocked on the glass doors.

 

“Hello,” she timidly greeted, “could my friend and I join you?”

 

“Of course!” the boy sitting in the corner of the compartment answered. “I’m Finn Storm, a First Year!”

 

“We’re First Years too!” Rey proclaimed happily. “I’m Rey, nice to meet you.”

 

“I’m Rose Tico,” Rose squeaked with a faint blush. Rey noted her companion’s unusual reaction with fascination.

 

“Awesome!” Finn exclaimed, as Rey and Rose scooted into the seat across from Finn. “Do you two want a corned beef sandwich? My gran made too many, and she never remembers that I don’t actually like it.”

 

Rose politely declined, while Rey immediately leaned forward to grab one of the ziplock bags. “Thanks Finn!” she blurted out after tearing the bag apart and stuffing the sandwich into her mouth in mere seconds.

 

Finn and Rose both stared at her, before breaking into giggles.

 

“What? I really like food,” she mumbled between bites.

 

Finn laughed even harder. “I think we’re going to get along great,” he remarked. “Perhaps we might even end up in the same House!”

 

“Mhmm,” Rose agreed, “but I’m sure we’ll still remain friends even in different houses!” Rey and Finn nodded enthusiastically at this, thus cementing their legacy as a close trio.

 

The glass doors rippled three times, before sliding open. “Any chance I could sit here too? The rest of the train’s full - ”

 

Rey’s head turned 180 degrees to look up into Ben Solo’s face.

 

“- oh, it’s you,” Ben remarked at seeing Rey again.

 

“I know who you are!” Finn exclaimed at the newcomer. “You’re Ben Solo! Your mother is Headmistress Organa!”

 

Rey jerked her head back. “You’re Leia’s son?” Rey had mixed thoughts about the Hogwarts Headmistress. On one hand, Rey did not appreciate being kidnapped; on the other hand, Leia had been mostly kind and introduced Rey to the wizarding world.

 

“Yeah,” he scowled, turning to Finn and Rose. “Well, there’s no need to ask who you two are. You’re clearly another Tico spawn. And you must be a Storm.”

 

His eyes drifted to Rey. “So, what is your last name?”

 

“Johnson...”

 

“Johnson,” Ben murmured, eyes drifting off to a distance. “I don’t think I’ve heard of it before. Are you a Muggle-born?”

 

Rey’s smile slid off her face. “I’m not really sure. I ran away from my parents at a young age, when I overheard them planning to dump me like trash.”

 

Ben and Finn’s gazes jerked to Rey’s face.“Well, good for you. Having parents are useless anyway, it’s great for you to start on a clean slate,” Ben said.

 

Rey frowned. “That’s not true,” she refuted. In her years of lurking near school campuses, hiding outside classrooms to hear the lessons, Rey had seen many parents who showered their children with love. She could never stop her heart from twinging with envy when seeing those parents embrace their kids with affectionate kisses and hugs. “Any kid who has loving parents are incredible lucky to have them at all.”

 

“As if you’d know anything about properly growing up with parents,” Ben fired back.

 

Rey could hear her heart breaking into pieces. Shooting him a withering glare, she stood on her feet. _I am going to throttle this little piece of -_

 

“ _Get out,_ ” Rose seethed, standing up and pointing her wand straight at Ben’s chest. She did not waver, despite her frame being a full head shorter than Ben’s. “Don’t talk to my friend like that.”

 

Ben did not break his stare-off with the shorter girl. Finally, he huffed and turned away, slamming the glass doors shut.

 

“Good riddance,” Finn breathed out in relief. “That was amazing, Rose.”

 

Rose smiled proudly. “I sure hope he’s not in any of our houses!”

 

“Amen,” Rey echoed. “I'd rather be dead than ever stuck in a room with Ben Solo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> Thank you to Erulisse17 for making this beautiful moodboard! Original Tumblr post [here](http://happilyeveraftereveryday.tumblr.com/post/176882957976/another-super-fun-fic-is-the-newly-posted).
> 
> * * *
> 
> A humongous thank you to my amazing beta, the legendary [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97/pseuds/INTPSlytherin_reylove97), who has written a lot of PHENOMENAL Reylo fics. I admire her, both as a writer and a human being, so incredibly much. It has been an absolute dream to work with her!
> 
> I am not British, nor am I Vietnamese (though I am Asian American). If I write anything inaccurate about either culture, please let me know in the culture because I really want to depict both cultures as accurately as possible. I am trying my best to use British English, but it is a hard task, so do please let me know your thoughts on anything related.
> 
> Vietnamese customs/terms I referenced:  
> \- They wear slippers in the house  
> \- Cháo Ga = chicken congee ([reference photo](http://runawayrice.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Chicken-Congee-Rice-Porridge.jpg))
> 
> The line _‘“You’re my guest,” she replied. In her voice, Rey found unexpected gentleness.’_ is a reference to the TFA novelization: _‘In Kylo Ren’s voice there was unexpected gentleness. Not quite sympathy, but something less than the hostility with which he had confronted her in the forest. “You’re my guest.”’_
> 
> I will jump straight into Seventh Year next chapter. I actually had some events of Years 1-6 planned out, but I had to cut them. If there is enough interest, perhaps I’ll post the missing scenes of this fic separately in the future...
> 
>  
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Guess what houses Rey, Ben, Finn, and Rose are in, based on their depictions in this chapter! Whoever guesses them correctly gets 1000 points.**
> 
>  
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))! I also am writing a Modern AU Olympic Swimming Reylo fic, [Make A Splash](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15234105/chapters/35333478)!
> 
> **Comments and kudos are worth a million Rose Tico hugs <3 **


	2. Alohomora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A train ride that doesn't go _quite_ the way Rey expects, a feast, and more unanticipated discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Alohomora_ \- to open a locked door, window, or object.]
> 
> Please note that there has been a time jump. Rey, Ben, Rose, and Finn are all now entering their Seventh Year at Hogwarts.
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy, inspired by the legendary Daily Prophet Delivery Owl of the Year Trophy, goes to SageMcMae: _“And that last line...“I'd rather be dead than ever stuck in a room with Ben Solo.” Girl...would a broom closet work?”_

 

With a nostalgic gaze, Rey took in the familiar sight upon her.

 

It was hard to believe that this would be her last time embracing the excitement and clamor of King’s Cross on September 1st. _This was it_ , _her final year at Hogwarts_.

 

Had it really been six years since she first boarded the scarlet train?

 

Six years, since the Ticos took her in and made her feel like a fitting puzzle piece of a true family?

 

Six years, since the Sorting Hat shouted “SLYTHERIN!”, whispering encouragement in her ears to hone her resourcefulness for survival and ambition for greatness?

 

Merlin, she could still remember her three buns floating up and down on the back of her head, when she and Rose sprinted to what-she-thought-would-be-an-imminent-death in the barrier of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Rey smoothed her shiny, brown hair once more, her thumb and forefinger brushing over her half-ponytail.

 

The badge pinned to her chest gleamed under the golden beams of sunshine. With a swirl of forest green painted on the armor-shaped badge, a silver banner wrapped across the badge, proudly proclaiming “HEAD GIRL.”

 

Breaking his way through the crowd of families, Mr. Tico wrapped his arms around Rey and Rose in a tight hug.

 

“I’m so proud of you two,” he muffled into the two Seventh Years’ shoulders. If either girl felt a damp patch grow on their robes, neither commented anything. “We’re going to miss you so much. You’ve both grown so quickly!”

 

“Yes, you two used to be shorter than me!” Mrs. Tico commented from her husband’s side. “Now, look at you! Both girls towering over me!”

 

Rey and Rose glanced at each other with a wry grin. Neither Rey, at five foot seven, nor Rose, at five foot two, were particular tall and rarely “towered” over anyone except the lovely Tico matriarch. The two seventeen-year-olds crouched down, circling Mrs. Tico with a bear hug and cries of thanks.

 

“Congrats you two!” Paige’s voice rang out from the distance. Now working at the Ministry of Magic, Paige rarely returned home anymore, but she made sure to be there for Rose and Rey’s last September 1st.

 

“Paige!” Rose shouted in surprise, hurtling into Paige with a bone-crushing embrace. “You’re here!”

 

“Of course I’m here, little Rosie,” Paige teased her younger sister. “And Rey! Look at you, Head Girl Rey-Rey!”

 

Rey blushed, both at the praise and at hearing her childhood nickname that the Tico sisters assigned to her.

 

“Oh dear, you both need to go!” Mrs. Tico exclaimed, her index finger tapping her watch. “Rey, you need to be in the Prefects’ Compartment in two minutes!”

 

Rey immediately straightened her back, her eyes darting between the train and her family. “Okay, good bye everyone! I’ll miss you!”

 

A chorus of byes ensued, as Rey and Rose waved their final goodbyes and stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.

 

Seventh Year has begun.

 

===

 

Rey slid into the Prefects’ Compartment one minute late, rummaging through her knapsack for her meeting notes. “Sorry, I got caught up saying goodbyes -”

 

Her words came to an abrupt stop, as she lifted her head to meet the icy glare of Ben Solo.

 

“You -” Rey fumbled, not believing her eyes. “You’re Head Boy?”

 

If Rey were being honest with herself, she would have agreed that Ben was the best choice for becoming Head Boy. A Ravenclaw in every way, Ben was studious, organized, and intelligent; he and Rey rivalled for the top academic ranking every year. But Rey could not disregard the numerous fights they’ve had, the hundreds of hurtful barbs they’ve traded, since their very first meeting.

 

“Yes,” Ben muttered with a roll of his eyes. Rey’s gaze zeroed in onto the badge on his chest, which matched Rey’s except for its writing of “Head Boy” and its royal blue color. “I’m glad to see you can use your eyes, Johnson. But not a watch, apparently.”

 

Anger spread across Rey’s face like wildfire. “Look, Solo,” she gritted out, “I earned this Head Girl spot, and you are not going to take it away. Even if you are an absolute jerk to me, all the time, you stuck-up, half-witted -”

 

“Hello!” Finn cheerfully greeted as he opened the carriage doors, another girl standing right behind him. His grin immediately slid off at the sight before him. “Am I interrupting something?”

 

“No, not at all,” Rey replied, smoothing down her robes and plastering a fake smile on her face. “You two can go sit over there, in the corner.”

 

The two Hufflepuff Seventh Year prefects obeyed Rey’s words and sat down, trying to ignore the suffocating tension in the room.

 

“Okay, you take notes, I speak,” Rey whispered to Ben.

 

“ _What?_ ” he seethed. “Are you _bloody_ _serious_?”

 

“Look, I’ve got everything prepared already.”

 

“I’m Head Boy,” Ben growled as quietly as possible. “That means we’re in this together, _equally_. Not you do all the talking, while I just sit here.”

 

Her brows furrowed in frustration, Rey opened her mouth to retort, but the door opened again. A line of prefects filed in, filling in the remaining twenty-two open seats. They glanced at Rey and Ben with widened eyes, curious yet wary.

 

“Morning everyone!” Rey ended her conversation with Ben, deciding to take matters into her own hands. “In case you don’t know me already, my name is Rey and I am Head Girl this year.”

 

She paused, gesturing towards Ben, who had sat down and was rummaging through his bag. After a beat of awkward silence, he suddenly realized Rey’s intention and lifted his head to speak. “Hi, I’m Ben Solo, Head Boy.”

 

 _Thank you_ , she angrily mouthed at him in return. Ben huffed, turning back to face away from her.

 

“All of you here have been selected by the Headmistress to be prefects and to represent our school in the best light. Congratulations!” Rey beamed at everyone. “It is all of _our_ responsibilities to guide the student body and assist the school.”

 

The prefects all nodded, which eased Rey’s nerves and boosted her confidence. She happily carried on. “First order of business, we will -”

 

“- discuss the prefect patrol rotation for today. As you may know, we must -”

 

“ _What are you doing?”_ Rey hissed at Ben, clearly enunciating every word. He subtly shook his head, making no verbal acknowledgement of Rey’s objection. Ben continued to speak as if Rey was a buzzing mosquito in his ear, a mere pest to ignore.

 

“- patrol the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, to ensure the safety of all students and help any First Years who may be lost. Tallie, Jessika, Snap, and Tasu?”

 

The four Sixth Years snapped their attention to Ben upon hearing their names called.

 

“You four will -”

 

“- split up to monitor Compartments A-M for the first half of the train ride,” Rey butted in, eager to not get outdone by Ben. The Ravenclaw narrowed his eyes and clenched his lips. “Then, you four other Sixth Years can divvy up Compartments N-Z.”

 

More nods greeted Rey in response.

 

“Does that sound good?” Rey sharply concluded.

 

A chorus of _yes_ ’s echoed around the room, both out of politeness and fear.

 

“Does that sound good to you, Solo?” she quipped, the corner of her lip tugging into a smirk. “Did you write that down?”

 

To her surprise (and disappointment), Ben was not fuming as she expected. Instead, he calmly took out an inkpot, blank parchment, and a quill. In the most _stunning_ cursive Rey has ever seen, complete with ostentatious flourishes on the first letter of every bullet point, Ben wrote down their agreed upon patrol arrangement.

 

Rey gaped, her mouth wide open and her mind refusing to accept that he had obeyed her command. She mentally applauded herself for using her innate Slytherin-ness to have persuaded him, even if she was unsure how she did that.

 

Meanwhile, the twenty-four prefects glanced at each other, confused at how the Head Boy and Head Girl operated.

 

“Excellent!” Rey straightened up again, her chin held high as her eyes perused the room. “Now, moving on - let’s cover who’s patrolling for the second half of the train ride.”

 

She gazed down at her own notes, full of scribbles and messy diagrams. Rey’s heart dropped as she suddenly realized something.

 

Ben’s spontaneous interruption and decision making had ruined all her patrol plans.

 

She lifted her head to meet Ben’s inquisitive look. Rey glowered at him, and he instantly understood her revelation. His expression evolved from curious to smug.

 

Rey wanted nothing more than to slap that smirk off his face. Hearing Ben list off _his_ patrol plans, she slouched back into her chair and glanced down at her now-useless notes with a deep scowl.

 

_I see how it’s going to be._

 

===

 

“How was the Prefects’ Meeting?” Rose inquired, as Rey stepped into their usual compartment. Finn followed suit, greeting Rose with a chaste kiss on her lips.

 

“You guys are too sickeningly sweet,” Rey groaned halfheartedly, a smile creeping upon her face to reveal her true feelings. The trio all knew that Rey was probably the biggest fan of Finn and Rose’s relationship, and none of them minded her as the third wheel.

 

Rose stuck her tongue out at her best friend. “So, how did the meeting go?” she repeated.

 

Finn and Rey exchanged glances, before Rey looked away, pretending to be busy looking for something in her notes.

 

“It was - uh - great!” Finn exclaimed, scratching his neck with a hesitant look.

 

Rose rolled her eyes. “You’re such a Hufflepuff, Finn. I know that you’re lying.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff!” Finn cried. “If anything, you’re the one who betrayed your sister’s house _to be sorted into Gryffindor, for heaven’s sake!_ ”

 

“Finn’s got a point - you are in the worst house, Rose,” Rey chuckled. “Gryffindor’s full of hotheads who never think before they act.”

 

“Says the slimy slake.”

 

The three friends stared at each other, donning serious looks of indignation, before they all burst into laughter.

 

“I love you guys so much,” Rey proclaimed while watching Rose wipe away her tears from laughing too hard. “Finn, there’s nothing wrong being a Hufflepuff. It’s the strongest, most hardworking house that I super admire. Rose, Gryffindors are courageous and willing to do what it takes. They’re awesome, mostly.”

 

“We know,” the couple chimed together.

 

“We just have to keep up our house rivalries, you know!” Rose piped up. “So, Rey, how was the meeting _actually_?”

 

Rey scowled, burying her face in her hands. “It was _bloody horrible_.”

 

“Really? I’m sure that’s not the case-”

 

“Ben Solo is Head Boy, and he was an absolute arsehole during the meeting.”

 

Rose nodded in full understanding. “That makes complete sense.”

 

“He wasn’t _that_ bad, you know,” Finn quietly added. “He had some really good ideas and pretty detailed arrangements planned beforehand. But, of course, I’m sure yours were better.”

 

“He wrecked my plans!” Rey cried. “He made me look like a fool in front of everyone.”

 

Rose stood up and walked across the compartment, wrapping Rey in an one-arm hug.

 

“Rey, you’re going to be an amazing Head Girl. One meeting means nothing. I’m sure of it.”

 

“But the first meeting sets the impression for the rest of the year!”

 

Rose pressed her lips into a thin line. “Look, Rey,” she sternly stated, “you were chosen to _lead our student body_ for many reasons. And you weren’t selected by a random tosser, you were chosen by the _Headmistress herself_. You are not a fluke. You are _Rey Johnson,_ Head Girl extraordinaire!”

 

Finn vigorously applauded Rose’s passionate spiel, nodding at Rey in encouragement. It was during moments like these Rey felt extremely grateful for her two best friends.

 

Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes, mentally centering herself. _I am the Head Girl. I have wanted this since I was eleven, and I’m gonna be one hell of a Head Girl._

 

_Even with Solo in my way._

 

===

 

The divine smell of the Start-of-Term Feast dishes wafted into Rey’s nostrils, making her mouth water. She rapidly flooded her plate with all her favorites - lamb chops, steak and kidney pie, roast chicken...

 

“Whoa there,” the snide voice of Gwen Phasma rang from Rey’s side. “You don’t want to load up that much right before Quidditch season starts, do you?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes, quickly swallowing her large mouthful of boiled potatoes. “Bugger off, Phas. You’re not my personal nutritionist, you’re not even my roommate anymore this year.”

 

“Yeah, but I am your newly appointed Quidditch captain this year!” Phasma smirked, subtly flashing her captain badge at Rey.

 

Rey’s eyes widened, her lips stretching into a radiant smile. “That’s amazing!” she exclaimed, clapping her friend on her back. “Congrats Phas, you absolutely deserve it!”

 

“Thanks, Rey.” Even the ever-so-stoic Phasma cracked a grin. “I can’t wait to slaughter Ravenclaw again this year.”

 

“Oh, for sure,” Rey nodded in fierce agreement. “Steamrolling them in the finals last year after their trash talk was magnificent.”

 

Phasma’s face grew smug at the memory. “Yeah, that was awesome. And Dameron’s gone this year, Gryffindor will be a mess.”

 

Rey’s smile slid off at her former roommate’s mention of Rey’s ex-boyfriend. “Right, yeah.” She cleared her throat. “When are tryouts?”

 

“In an exact month,” Phasma replied, tactfully not bringing up Poe again. “October 1st.”

 

“Got it, I’ll be there.”

 

“You _better_ ,” the Slytherin Quidditch captain commanded, stabbing her fork into a pork chop. “So how are your Head duties going?”

 

“Terribly,” Rey groaned. “But at least I get a room to myself. I’m going there straight after the Feast.”

 

Phasma nodded. After sharing a room with Rey for six years, she was glad she no longer had to deal with Rey’s unceasing loud snores. “I heard they’re pretty big! And you get a bathroom too?”

 

“Merlin’s beard, for real? That’s _brilliant_. I can’t wait.”

 

===

 

Uttering the password to the guardian painting of the Head Dormitories, Rey trod into a large common room with plush sofas and two desks, clearly for the two Heads to study and work at. A fire blazed brightly in the fireplace, warmly radiating the whole room.

 

Then, she turned left and stepped into the room designated for Head Girl.

 

 _Pretty big_ was the understatement of the century.

 

Rey’s wand slipped out of her hand and onto the wooden floor as she stood there, marveling at the sight. The room was _enormous._

 

It was a Victorian-esque view - a room fit for royalty. A king-sized, four-poster bed lay in its center. Shimmery green drapes adorned with silver stars hung from above, encircling the mattress covered with dark green linens. An ebony, leather recliner sat in the room’s corner, accompanied by a bistro table and an hourglass-shaped torchiere lamp.

 

Her bedroom could have _easily_ fitted over one hundred cardboard boxes Rey used to sleep in as a kid. But Rey quickly brushed that pang in her heart away; it didn’t do well to dwell on her past.

 

She crouched down to pick up her wand, before inching closer to the bed. Her left hand gently caressed the velvet blanket, so soft and smooth beneath her fingertips.

 

Rey moved across the room and advanced towards the bathroom. Placing her palm flat, she nudged open the metal door.

 

Her jaw dropped instantly.

 

Rey’s vision was temporarily blinded. Bright sunlight radiated through the stained glass windows, each depicting an underwater creature. The light reflected off the hundreds of golden taps surrounding the tub, the centerpiece of the bathroom. The tub sunk into the ground, occupying a space as large as a backyard swimming pool.

 

“ _Whoa_.”

 

Rey swiveled her head upon hearing the voice, staring across the bathroom to see Ben Solo. He leaned against a doorframe, his wide eyes scanning the entire setting.

 

“This is really _something_ ,” he mumbled in awe.

 

“ _What_ are you doing here?” Rey snapped, infuriated by his presence.

 

His eyes narrowed, meeting her gaze with surprise. “What are _you_ doing here, Johnson?”

 

“I’m Head Girl, remember?” she replied, lightly tapping her temple with her index finger. “This is _my_ bath- _oh no_.”

 

Ben furrowed his brows. “You mean - we _share_ the same bathroom?”

 

“Aren’t you a Ravenclaw?” Rey snapped. “No need to state the obvious. Yes, I have to share the most glorious bathroom in the world with you tosser.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her shallow insults, but did not deign to respond. His eyes continued to roam, brushing over every corner of the room.

 

“I’m surprised you’re so in awe of this bathroom, Solo. Didn’t you grow up in one of the most elite wizarding households?”

 

Ben’s left eye twitched as his gaze shifted back to her. “Yes, but we had nothing that could compare to this bathroom’s grandeur.”

 

“At least your parents made it so you had your own bathroom, right?”

 

It was an innocent observation laced with curiosity, but the instant it left Rey’s mouth, she wished she could take it back. She was aware that his parents were a sensitive topic for him. The memory of their argument about parents in their first ever Hogwarts Express ride floated across her mind.

 

He clenched his lips at the mention of his family. “Right,” Ben gritted out.

 

“That, uh,” Rey stammered, trying her best to ameliorate the tension, “that must have been nice.”

 

His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t speak about what you don’t understand,” he growled, gnashing his teeth. “You don’t know anything about my household, or my family.”

 

Rey swallowed thickly. Before she could respond, Ben turned on his heels and walked out of the bathroom, his black wizard robe flying behind him.

 

Rey’s eyes followed his path out the door. Her feet stood frozen on the ground, the bathroom so silent she could hear the creak of the floorboards as Ben walked across his own room.

 

The portrait door of the Head dormitories slammed shut, confirming his departure.

 

Rey returned to her room. She lay on her bed, her mind replaying her and Ben’s words over and over. While her heart had previously tinged with guilt, Rey no longer experienced remorse; she only felt a strong dislike for him - a moody and conceited individual she needed to work closely with for the rest of the year.

 

Her body overloaded with emotions, Rey succumbed to exhaustion and drifted into the night.

 

* * *

 

**Discussion of Houses:**

So - Rey is a Slytherin, Ben is a Ravenclaw, Finn is a Hufflepuff, and Rose is a Gryffindor!

I know you all probably have a lot of opinions about this, especially the sorting of Rey. Here are some of my thoughts on their Sorting.

Truthfully, I think Rey could fit into any House; but in _Unwritten Oaths_ , she would thrive the most in Slytherin. In this fic, she is shaped by an environment and circumstances that force her to survive on her own from a very young age onwards. She is thrown into a lifestyle where she must be resourceful, cunning, and clever to survive. As an eleven year old, she is already ambitious for power and leadership - what she seeks in magic, when she asks Paige about being Head Girl. Her fear and hesitance in running through the wall at King’s Cross - it shows that she does not easily take risks head on without fully thinking it through, so she is not a Gryffindor.

Ben, like Rey, is a very hard character to sort. While I did intend for both of Ben and Rey’s meetings in Ch. 1 to sort of echo Draco and Harry’s first meetings, Ben is definitely not a Slytherin. He is not clever, nor is he ambitious - he seeks a life he can make for himself, not one defined by his family or legacy. He could rule the whole galaxy, but he would still be unhappy. In this fic (and even in canon) Ben is a figure who seeks knowledge and wisdom in the purest of forms - texts, scriptures, etc. He even _writes calligraphy_. Ben would rather read a book than engage in adventures or confrontations. I personally think that his trust in others has been broken too much (by his family) for him to be a loyal Hufflepuff.

Rose is 1000% a Gryffindor. She is brave, and she is willing to put herself in front of others for the people she loves. Look at how she stands up to Ben in the train ride during their first meeting, to defend Rey. I placed Finn in Hufflepuff, because I think he would be a wonderful friend to Rey and Rose - loyal and hardworking in every sense. He may seem like a cinnamon roll, but deep inside he is the most loving friend and would never hesitate to do anything to help his loved ones.

So our main four are in all four houses!

Tallies for guesses from your comments:

Rey: Gryffindor (4), Slytherin (3), Ravenclaw (1), Hufflepuff (1)

Ben: Gryffindor (1), Slytherin (5), Ravenclaw (3), Hufflepuff (1)

Rose: Gryffindor (7), Slytherin (0), Ravenclaw (0), Hufflepuff (2)

Finn: Gryffindor (2), Slytherin (0), Ravenclaw (1), Hufflepuff (3)

A big shoutout to Melusine11 who nailed ALL FOUR CHARACTERS’ HOUSES. I screamed when I saw your comment, I’m so impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the very sweet and all-around amazing [darthcarol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthcarol/) ([@kpopandstarwarswhynot](https://kpopandstarwarswhynot.tumblr.com)) for making me this manip above! It’s so perfect, my heart is swelling with joy!!! Original Tumblr post: [here](https://kpopandstarwarswhynot.tumblr.com/post/176786731539/you-guys-should-totally-check-reylocalligraphy). Go read her lovely Reylo kids fic [Parenthood: To Our Children](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15233985/chapters/35333100)!
> 
> * * *
> 
> [There are 24 prefects and 2 Heads. From HP Wiki - “One male and one female student are chosen from each house in their fifth year to act as prefects, and would continue to be prefects in their sixth and seventh years until they leave school.”]
> 
> A big hug to my iconic beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97), who helped me tremendously with this chapter. Thank you for taking time with me to engage in HP discussions, and for being so patient as I reworked the ending numerous times. <3
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
>  
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth a million house points <3 **


	3. Stupefy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a new day at Hogwarts! Classes have begun. Rey wakes up to one nightmare (blessing?) after another...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Stupefy_ \- to stun an opponent, rendering them unconscious.]
> 
> Thank you to the amazingly kindhearted, sweetest soul ever [AlbaStarGazer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlbaStarGazer) for making me this beautiful moodboard below! Original Tumblr post [here](https://albastargazer.tumblr.com/post/177374840545/reylo-au-week-2018-august-25-day-6-crossover).
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to rakefire: _“I wish to Merlin's fabulous beard that those two would get trapped in more ‘inconvenient’ situations.”_

 

 

The stampede of students crossing the castle was always hectic on the first day of classes. Lost first years explored the enormous building, as frantic third years sought the classrooms of their new electives. Meanwhile, the sixth years, who slept in too late after partying the night before, hurried to their course schedule consultation meetings with dark rings under their eyes.

 

With the the stomping and jostling outside her room vaguely ringing in her ears, Rey began to stir awake. Her mouth stretched into a yawn, she arched further into her mattress, her hand brushing over soft velvet -

 

_Wait a second…  since when did I own velvet?_

 

Her eyes snapped open. Rather than the familiar, mundane brown walls of her room at home, or the dark gray high ceiling of the Slytherin dungeons, she was met with the sight of a massive painting of the Hogwarts crest adorning her Head Girl bedroom ceiling.

 

She bent her wrist, glancing at her tattered analog watch. _8:17. Bollocks._

 

Rey was going to be very, _very_ late to her first class, which started in thirteen minutes.

 

She sat up and leaped off her bed. Peering down at her body, she realized she must have fallen asleep in her uniform, which, right now, was a blessing in disguise because she was running short on time.

 

Stuffing her wand and stationery into her bag, Rey dashed towards the bathroom, legs hurling. With all her might, she shoved open the door.

 

_“Bloody freaking hell!”_

 

Unlike Rey, Ben didn’t curse.

 

Instead, he emitted a blood curdling scream at the sight of her.

 

“What are you doing here?” Ben squeaked, immediately spinning away to hide his bare torso from Rey.

 

“Do you have something - a cowl or something you could put on?” she stuttered, shielding her eyes with her fingers. Rey tried to erase the surprising sight that seemed to burn into her mind, the outline of his chest and wide shoulders distinct.

 

Rey received no response, instead, hearing an intense ruffling of fabric. When the clamor faded, she slowly peeked with one eye.

 

She sighed in relief. Ben had donned and buttoned a white collared shirt. An open, black robe was draped over his shoulders and through his left arm, while his right hand fumbled to hastily knot his Ravenclaw tie.

 

After watching him unfasten his tie for the third time, Rey cleared her throat.

 

“Er, I can help you, if you’d like?” she asked, her teeth nervously sinking into her lower lip.

 

His gaze snapped to her, his right eye twitching in thought. An unreadable expression crossed Ben’s face, before he nodded hesitantly.

 

Rey’s slender fingers grasped the delicate cloth of his blue and bronze tie, looping the fabric and wrapping its thinner end across and up into the neck loop.

 

Looking up into Ben’s widened eyes, she saw the golden flecks swirling within the pupils; a delicate sheen of confusion and surprise washed over, leaving behind a flash of remnant pain. Her mind transported to the conversation they had last night in this very same spot, guilt pouring through her body like a dam broken open.

 

“I - er - am very sorry for what I said last night,” Rey stammered quietly, her fingers resting on the tie. “It was uncalled for, and I deeply apologize.”

 

His Adam’s apple bobbed visibly. His eyes never left hers, the intensity of his gaze so dense and smoldering, a shiver ran through her body. Ben spoke no words but bestowed another small nod, one that Rey recognized as an act of forgiveness.

 

The tension in Rey’s body eased, her limbs loosening and her fingers returning to work. She pulled down on the wide end of the tie and slid the knot upwards, her knuckles lightly grazing the skin of his neck.

 

“There you go!” Rey stepped back to admire her finished work. “It’s symmetric now.”

 

Ben glanced into the mirror. His fingertips smoothed over the fabric of the tie, before he swung his right arm through the robe’s other sleeve.

 

“Thank you.” The words rushed out of his mouth in a breathy whisper, carried into the winds rattling the bathroom pipes, but Rey still caught them. The corners of her lips involuntarily tugged upwards.

 

They fell back into a silence, one lingering with unease, but also with familiarity. Ben stepped to the side as Rey forcefully scrubbed her toothbrush against her teeth.

 

“Um, I left you a bathroom schedule last night. Under your door,” he spoke softly, sheepishly staring at his feet. “I thought it would make things easier for us.”

 

Internally, Rey rolled her eyes. _Typical Ravenclaw. Making schedules for something as simple as a bathroom._ However, her body lacked the energy to quip back, so she merely nodded. “I didn’t see it, sorry. I’ll look at it tonight for sure,” she gargled through the foam bubbling in her mouth.

 

“Okay,” he responded. “You really should look at it. I’m going to be late for Defense now because of you.”

 

“Oh, for the love of Salazar!” Rey groaned after spitting out a mouthful of water. Her fingers rapidly combed through her tangled hair in replacement of a hairbrush. “Don’t pin this on me, I’ll be late too!”

 

The two Head students scrambled to hurry out the room and across the castle, their robes flying behind them.

 

===

 

When Ben and Rey bolted into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they came to an abrupt stop at the sight which greeted them.

 

Neither tables nor chairs were present. Book bags were thrown to the side of the room, piles of textbooks scattered in the corners. Instead, all students sat on the hardwood floor, their legs crossed and eyes closed.

 

“Feel your surroundings, and reach out with your magic,” Professor Skywalker’s voice boomed from the front of the room. He, too, was seated on the ground with his knees twisted like a pretzel, his eyelids squeezed shut. “If you can truly feel your surroundings, you will sense that Ms. Johnson and Mr. Solo just walked in, six minutes late.”

 

Twenty pairs of eyes instantly opened and snapped to the two newcomers. Ben’s fist clenched around his wand even tighter, his knuckles turning white. From the corner of her eye, Rey noticed Rose and Phasma’s attentive gazes on them.

 

Rey released a nervous puff of laughter. “Sorry, Professor,” she apologized.

 

To her surprise, Professor Skywalker was not furious. He was not even slightly disappointed, or entering a ready-to-scold mode. Instead, he released a rumbling laugh.

 

“I’m sure you are!” he chuckled. “Johnson, Solo - you two can sit over here. The class has been sorted into pairs already, so I guess you two will be paired for the rest of the year.”

 

Rey slumped forward, her mouth slackening as the professor’s words echoed in her ears. _For the_ **_rest of the year_** _._ She was paired with her archenemy for the entire school year, as if sharing Head duties, a common room, and even the world’s most precious bathroom wasn’t enough already!

 

“Sir?” She raised her hand to object. “Is there really no chance we cannot switch training partners during the year?”

 

Professor Skywalker cocked an eyebrow, his eyes zeroing in on the Head Girl. “No.”

 

“But I will work with Solo for Head Duties all year long already!” Rey continued, praying that an appeal to logic would soften his resolve. “It would be unwise for our - er - learning experience, if we were paired together for even _more_ time.”

 

The professor hummed thoughtfully. “Impressive,” he proclaimed with a stroke of his chin. “Every word in that sentence was wrong.” He stood up on his feet, his intent gaze unwavering as it shrouded Ben and Rey. “I’d recommend you two sit down, so we can stop delaying our class. You don’t want to fail your Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test, do you?”

 

With adamant head shakes, the two Heads dropped their bags and settled onto the ground, crossing their legs like the rest of the class.

 

“Alright everyone, please close your eyes again,” the professor stated soothingly, stepping around the students. “Breathe. Reach out with your feelings, with your magic. What do you see?”

 

“The classroom, and the other people near me,” a scoffing male voice sounded from the corner of the room. Rey joined the rest of the class in sniggering at his comment.

 

Her eyelids still glued shut, she had no knowledge of Professor Skywalker’s reaction, but he seemed unsurprised at that student’s response. “Indeed, Mr. Smith. Sensing the classroom and the other students is a good start,” he deadpanned. “And in between it all? Anyone else?”

 

“A balance.” Rey heard a girl’s voice chime in, until she realized that the response had been uttered from her own mouth. More words burst forth from her lips. “The energy that binds us and surrounds us. The magic within us all,” she whispered.

 

“Open your eyes, class,” Professor Skywalker commanded. “This is the lesson. Magic does not solely belong to wizards and witches. It feeds new life, it lives inside us. And you must be aware of this during any defense, any duel.”

 

Ben’s hand rocketed into the air like an eager firecracker crackling at the surface with an untamed intensity. Upon receiving a nod of permission, curiosity burst forth from his lips.

 

“Sir, are you suggesting we feel the magic around us when we are in combat with another?” he inquired. “Wouldn’t it be easier to ignore the sensations, and focus solely on our instincts?”

 

Rey hummed in agreement. Ben had a point - if any of them were caught in a duel, it seemed inefficient to block out one’s feelings to sense the surrounding magic, which took time to adjust to.

 

The professor furrowed his brows, his forehead wrinkling in concern. “No,” he replied tersely. “It does not bode well to dwell on your emotions. Giving yourself into them could draw you into the Dark Arts. They’re quite seductive, and not necessarily evil, but definitely unforgivable. A wizard uses magic for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”

 

Rey sucked in a steadying breath, prepared to ask a follow-up question. However, Professor Skywalker shook his head out of his reverie, his gaze jerking upwards to roam across the rest of the students.

 

“Everybody, get up,” he directed. “Stand across your partner, and you will prepare to duel each other. Calm your emotions - _only_ sense the magic around you.”

 

“Are nonverbal spells permitted?” Rose asked.

 

Professor Skywalker nodded. “Yes, you don’t need to physically speak the spell. Anything safe is fair game. End the duel whenever someone falls.”

 

The students dropped into crouching stances, knees bent and wand prodded straight towards their opponent.

 

Rey stared forward into Ben’s brown pupils, a hard and determined gaze embedded within. His soft curls had fallen out, draping over his jawbone. Rey had an unmistakable urge to tuck his loose strands behind his ear; she immediately clenched her jaw and squashed the urge as intensely as one would swat a fly. She readied herself to sense the magic within the duel, like Professor Skywalker had taught.

 

“Begin!”

 

_Expelliarmus!_ Rey hollered in her head, a bright stream of scarlet light shooting out of her wand. If she could rid Ben of his wand as quickly as possible, the duel would end sooner.

 

He nimbly dodged her spell, bowing his head and smoothly sliding across the floor. For someone as lanky as Ben, he moved with a gracefulness Rey has never seen in others.

 

He snarled his teeth, brow furrowed as he opened his mouth to shout, _“Petrificus Totalus!”_ The body-bind curse flew towards Rey, who instantly snapped her wrist to nonverbally repel his spell with a shield charm. Being paralyzed so early in a duel would be quite the embarrassing sight.

 

Jets of colors danced around the duo, their faces illuminated in dim blurs of reds, purples, blues, greens, and whites.

 

One by one, their classmates began to fall within in their own duels, their successors standing to one wall, their wands raised high in victory. Soon, the Head Boy and Head Girl were the only ones remaining on the dueling floor, eyes only on each other.

 

_“Incarcerous,”_ Ben gritted out, his left sleeve coming up to wipe the sweat dripping down his hairline. Thin cords shot out from his wand; in the next moment, Rey was wriggling on the floor, her wrists and ankles bound and gagged.

 

His lips stretched into a small grin as he gradually lowered his wand to his side.

 

This proved to be a fatal flaw.

 

With jaw-dropping level of dexterity, Rey jumped up from the ground, her back arching and torso twisting so that she was back on her feet. Ushering four rapid nonverbal Severing Charms, Rey sliced the ropes in a blink of an eye.

 

His eyes widened, not expecting her to recover so soon. Ben scrambled to raise his own wand, lips quivering and strands of hair sticking to the sweat on his forehead. He tried to aim a fast nonverbal spell at her, yet to no avail.

 

Raising her arm higher, Rey pointed her wand straight at her rival. She could sense his heightened fear trembling through his magical aura.

 

_“Stupefy!”_ she screeched with a desperate vengeance, frustration and anger unleashed in their purest forms.

 

The neon blue light zoomed forward, forcefully hitting the center of Ben’s chest.

 

His jaw jammed together, his gaze piercing deeply into her own with horror and awe, before he flew backwards into the wall with a loud, echoing _SLAM._ His body slumped to the ground, unconscious and stiff. His eyes rolled back into his head, eyelids fluttering shut. His wand hit the hardwood floor, rolling a few meters away.

 

Rey dropped her wand arm, centering herself as her surroundings come into focus again. Her chest heaved, her breath erratic, her mouth opening wide to gulp in fresh air. Heartbeat pounding in her ears, the rest of the classroom remained silent.

 

She bit down on her bottom lip, suppressing a wide smile. Glee from defeating her nemesis flowed through her body.

 

In the corner of her eye, Rey glanced at the clock; thirty whole minutes had passed during their duel. _Bloody hell, it was that long?_

 

“Ms. Johnson.”

 

She whipped around to face Professor Skywalker; his lips, curved in a deep frown, was lined with wrinkles. Rey swallowed hard, the smile sliding off her face at his stony expression.

 

“You won the duel, but lost the fight,” he spoke gravely, eyes darting around the room but never pausing to meet Rey’s curious gaze.

 

Rey blinked. “Pardon me, sir?” she asked, her chin held high and her jaw set. “I don’t quite understand.”

 

Her professor shook his head. “Our key lesson today was to sense our magic and ignore our emotions,” he stated gravely. “You performed excellently at the start. However, as the duel progressed, you went straight to the dark!”

 

Rey parted her lips to protest. “I did not! None of my spells were dark,” she cried indignantly.

 

“You were about to!” he shouted in return. “You gave in to your emotions. Your last Stunning Spell? That was pure anger and revenge. You weren’t thinking of magic anymore; you were revelling in the sensations of retribution and victory.”

 

He stepped closer to her, their faces inches apart. “I’ve seen this raw strength only once before. It didn’t scare me enough then, but it does now.”

 

Rey flinched, her stomach twisting and coiling in disgust at the staggering implications of his words. Her esteemed professor, well known across the magical community for his legendary history fighting Dark Arts, had accused her (in front of the entire class) of almost succumbing to dark magic!

 

She felt like she had been slapped in the face, a red handprint stinging deeply in her heart.

 

Professor Skywalker wordlessly pivoted and walked away from her, bending down to revive Ben from his unconscious state. He stirred awake, rubbing his sore neck. When the Head Boy finally felt well enough to sit up, the professor strided to the front of the room.

 

“Class dismissed,” he curtly commanded. His eyes zeroed in on Rey, following her departure from the classroom.

 

===

 

“I can’t believe him. The bloody nerve of Skywalker earlier!” Her lips curved in a prominent scowl, Rey sat down at the Slytherin table, coming straight from Arithmancy with Rose.

 

The Slytherin stabbed her fork into her meatloaf repeatedly, the concoction of meat and sauce slowly being murdered into shreds under her negligent care. “I beat Solo, _fair and square_.”

 

“Yeah, you did,” Rose uttered, her mouth full of mashed potatoes. The rest of the lunch table glanced at her in disgust of her etiquettes. “You sure wiped that smirk off his face.”

 

“Exactly!” Rey pounded her palm on the table. Glasses of pumpkin juice flew high into the air, the orange seeping into the pristine tablecloth. She hastily directed a cleaning spell into the table, her lips pursing in irritation at the mess. “What does that even mean, I won the duel but _lost the fight_? He fell on the floor, so I clearly won!”

 

Rose, still chewing, tilted her head in thought. “Perhaps he was only mad that you didn’t follow his lesson,” she replied after swallowing. “You didn’t see yourself, Rey, during the duel. Towards the end, you got _really into it_. Like, I don’t have words to describe how you seemed.”

 

“Your eyes.” Rose and Rey’s heads snapped across the table to see Phasma sit down across them. “You had this look in your eyes, like there was a raging fire blazing within them.”

 

Rose nodded. “That’s right. Rey, you really looked like you wanted to kill Solo after you leaped up and cut the cords.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to beat your opponent, right?” the Head Girl replied, toying with her lower lip.

 

“No, but there is a difference between a training lesson and a life-or-death duel, Rey,” Rose put forth bluntly, yet with a soothing tone, calm and collected. “I think you thoroughly handed Solo his ass, definitely. But you did let anger get a hold of your magic, which could be dangerous.”

 

“Honestly, your last Stunning Spell was quite terrifying.” Phasma paused, hesitant to speak her next words. “Rey, I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this, but Solo is in the hospital wing right now.”

 

“ _What?”_ Rey gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth. She shook her head rapidly, horror bleeding through her veins. “No, no, _that’s impossible!”_ she croaked, her voice cracking on the last word.

 

“He didn’t show up to Herbology after Defense. I heard Madame Holdo tell our professor why Solo was absent.”

 

Rose inhaled sharply, her chin quivering. “Rey -”

 

Rey stood up, her knee banging against the wooden bench, fork clattering onto her half-eaten plate. Her hand gripped onto her robe, tightly wrapping it around her body, as she dashed towards the exit of the Great Hall.

 

===

 

Without focusing on where she was going, her feet whirled through the maze of the Hogwarts castle, bringing her to a stop in front of two large arched wooden doors.

 

Rey looked down at her tight black flats and winced, her toes twinging and aching. She hadn’t realized how quickly she had sprinted across the campus to get here. Her thumb wiped away the sweat beading on her left brow.

 

Her eyes casted back upwards to the doors - the doors that served as the barrier between her and the hospital wing; the divider between her current emotional safety net and an unknown world of responsibility and unpredictability ahead.

 

Taking a deep, pained breath and briefly shutting her eyes, Rey lightly pushed the door. It creaked open, the edge inching forward bit by bit.

 

The _whoosh_ of the wind greeted her, ruffling the crinkled teal curtains that settled between every pair of beds. Sunlight danced in the room, entering the glass windows and painting patterns of light on the marble floor.

 

Only one set of curtains was drawn. Rey’s feet carried her towards it, drawn in by an almost invisible force.

 

At last, her eyes fell upon the restful face present. Strands of raven-black hair spilled across the pillow, his eyelids peacefully drawn closed, his lips pressed in a thin line.

  
_“Ben?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> Look at these stunning aesthetics [SageMcMae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SageMcMae/pseuds/SageMcMae) made!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Original Tumblr post [here](https://wewantreylo.tumblr.com/post/177463534652/unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy-id-rather).
> 
> * * *
> 
> I want to thank you all for your deep support. I wasn’t sure when I’d get this chapter out, truthfully; right before I posted my last update, the semester started and I had a mental breakdown, so I took a break from writing and calligraphy. I am finally back to doing both now! All of your words helped me a lot, in ways I cannot describe. Thank you <3.
> 
> A tremendous thank you to my amazing beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)), who makes me a better writer every day. Thank you!  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	4. Episkey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey visits Ben in the hospital wing. She also fights a lethal plant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Episkey_ \- to heal a minor injury.]
> 
> A big thank you to the super kind [perperuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perperuna) for making this beautiful moodboard below! Original Tumblr post [here](http://perperuna93.tumblr.com/post/177373955277/moodboard-for-unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy).
> 
> What’s this—an update within a week?! Your gracious comments on the last chapter really spurred me on for this update!!! Thank you all very, very much <3
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to sunshinexxmoonlight: _“You know, sometimes when I close my eyes I can see shirtless Kylo.”_

 

 

 

Hearing Rey’s soft whisper of his first name, her warm breath blowing onto his cheek, Ben began to awake.

 

Rey watched his eyelids flutter, blinking away the blurriness of his vision. Then, his head pivoted to face her, eyes narrowed.

 

Her toes stayed rooted to the ground. She had never felt more vulnerable and uncertain, than being under his roaming gaze; she immediately averted her eyes, choosing to stare at the wrinkles of the bedsheets instead.

 

“How are you doing?” she asked quietly, her fingers tugging her shirt collar looser.

 

Ben blinked at her question. “I’m fine,” he muttered.

 

“You’re clearly not _fine_ ,” she sarcastically quipped, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Rey swallowed thickly, her next words slow to tumble out. “Is it—is it true that I’m the reason why you’re hurt?”

 

A grimace graced his features, a mixture of reluctance and hesitance prominently exhibited.

 

“Well,” he started, “from a certain point of view.”

 

Rey’s eyes immediately darted back to meet his piercing, brown pupils. Her lips curving into a frown, she placed her hands on her hips.

 

“What exactly does that _mean_?” she hissed. Her chest tightened, an aching river of remorse and anxiety pouring through her gaze.  

 

The echoing clacks of high-heeled boots interrupted their conversation. Rey’s back straightened at the foreign noise, her hands quickly stuffed into the thick pockets of her robe.

 

“Ms. Johnson.”

 

Rey stared upwards into the stern face of Madame Holdo, a clear look of displeasure blossoming upon her face. Her lips pursed in a narrow line, the school nurse held her chin high, her iris hair shining under the radiant sunlight.

 

She raised her glasses, peering down at the Slytherin over the thin rims. Rey gulped.

 

“You do know that students are not allowed to visit patients in the hospital wing during school hours, correct?”

 

It was not a question, but a clear command for Rey to leave the room. The Head Girl wordlessly turned to face the door in obedience, though her heart twinged with remorse and the disappointment of lacking an answer—she still did not know whether she was the cause of Ben’s current state.

 

“I asked her to come, ma’am.” Ben’s shaky voice made both women freeze, for very different reasons.

 

The nurse lowered her head, staring at him with widened eyes. “Pardon me?”

 

“I asked Johnson—I mean Rey—to come here,” he uttered, lips clenched together in thought. “To—um—discuss Head responsibilities, you see?”

 

“Head responsibilities,” Madame Holdo repeated slowly with clear skepticism.

 

“Yes,” Ben confirmed, his voice pressing with more fortitude in each word. “We agreed this morning to meet after lunch to discuss the prefect rotations. Rey never backs out on her word.”

 

The Head Girl snapped her gaze to the Ravenclaw, her jaw slackening at hearing his words. _Did he… did he just praise me?_

 

“Alright, you can stay here until the end of lunch, Ms. Johnson. Do please make sure Mr. Solo does not sit up. His spinal cord has been broken in three places, and his left wrist has been sprained.”

 

Rey’s face paled, almost draining to the pallid hue of the school’s most infamous and reckless ghost, Plagueis the Poltergeist. Fear pulsing through her veins, her eyes listlessly followed the nurse’s back as she exited the room, before zeroing back onto Ben’s face.

 

“Your wrist is sprained? _And_ your spinal cord has been broken, in _three_ places?” she choked out.

 

Ben swallowed thickly, looking up into her eyes. Her hazel pupils, normally shining beacons of radiant warmth, were shrouded in dark clouds of concern and remorse. “Yes,” he replied with a scratching rasp. “But it’s not your fault.”

 

 _“Of course it’s my fault!”_ she hissed, the words tearing from her throat with the ferocity of an irate hippogriff, sharp talons of guilt penetrating her soul. “I’m incredibly sorry—I genuinely didn’t mean to do this. I had no intention of hurting you, I just wanted to win.”

 

She buried her face in her hands, unwilling to meet his gaze.

 

“It’s okay, Rey. I swear. Holdo says I only need to stay two or three days anyway; thank goodness for magic,” he soothed her. “I understand better than anyone what it’s like to lose control of magic.”

 

Rey’s neck jolted upwards, curiosity set aflame within her weeping conscience. “You’ve done the same thing before?”

 

Ben gave a brief shake of his head. “No,” he whispered. “I’ve done _worse_.”

 

The end-of-lunch bell chimed in the distance, a deep tolling cutting off the amicable threads that had just began to weave between them. The echoing clicks of the school nurse’s heels returned, so Rey was forced to leave.

 

She fled the hospital wing with widened eyes and a reluctant muttering of goodbye. In her hasty leave, she missed his knitted brows, his twitching lip, and the yearning gaze which followed her shadow.

  


===

  


Rey slid into the greenhouse, treading lightly across the dirt lawn to squeeze into an empty seat between Finn and Phasma. Guilt and relief alike bubbled in her chest, grateful she arrived to her favorite class with a minute to spare.

 

“Somebody’s cutting it _close_ ,” Finn remarked with a chuckle.

 

Phasma pulled her lips into a thin line, not feeling nearly as lighthearted as he did. “So how is he?” she asked Rey.

 

“ _He?_ Who’s he?” Finn chimed in before the Head Girl could speak, the depth of concern in Phasma’s voice mystifying him.

 

“Shut up, Storm, the grown-ups are talking,” Phasma responded. “Solo was—er—hurt this morning in DADA. Rey went to check on him.”

 

Finn glanced at Rey, confusion blooming on his face. “Solo, as in Ben Solo? The guy you hate with a vengeance?” he fired off rapidly. Then, his voice turned tender. “Is he alright?”

 

Rey sucked in her bottom lip. “Yes, Ben Solo.” she confirmed to Finn. “He’s not doing so well. Quite a few broken bones, actually.” She bowed her head down, the shame and remorse returning to her like the tide of a violent tsunami, flooding her mind and spirit.

 

Her Slytherin classmate gasped. Before Phasma could reply, however, loud crackling of heavy feet crunching tree branches outside the greenhouse sounded.

 

“Good afternoon!” An ebullient greeting burst forth from Professor Chewbacca’s lips. He ducked underneath the glass entrance’s railing, his seven foot stature encroaching the space at the front of the classroom with his lanky presence.

 

A lackadaisical, slurred chorus of “Good afternoon, professor” greeted him back.

 

The professor merely shook his head at the Seventh Years’ lethargy, his hand stroking his hairy beard. “Today, we will be dealing with these beauties—Venomous Tentacula!”

 

Rey pointed her gaze downwards at the table. “Beauties” was the last word on her mind as she stared at them.

 

Twenty pots of giant, olive green plants had been lain in front of them, their vines twirling and entwining in the air. An eyeless stump, each plant held sharp fangs along its vines, ready to sink their teeth into threatening predators.

 

“These lovely babies are quite gentle, but their spikes are lethal—they can shoot poison through the tips of their shoots,” the professor continued, flashing his white teeth in an enthusiastic smile. “If their vines seize you from behind, feel free to swear—today is the only day which you can do so.”

 

Rey found it to be quite poetic, should she be hugged to death today by a ruthless, venomous plant with deadly fangs. Within the last twenty-four hours, she had been humiliated in front of the prefects, found out she had to _share_ a bathroom with her most hated rival, woken up late for her first class of the year, _and_ injured someone badly. _Being wrapped in a giant hug of a Venomous Tentacula didn’t seem that awful compared to some of those, honestly._

 

“Your mission today is to observe and take notes on all characteristics of the plant. I will collect your notes at the beginning of our next class. Make sure to touch the Tentacula and separate all its vines, so you can really see and _experience_ all the seeds, leaves, and spikes.”

 

Twenty identical grimaces graced the students’ faces.

 

“Now, begin!” Professor Chewbacca clapped his palms in eager delight.

 

Out of the entire class, only one student leaped forward to dig her hands into the deadly plant; a Ravenclaw with a ravenous love for Herbology, Kate Bluestocking eagerly moved apart the shoots with her gloved fingers. Her fellow housemate Frankie Blackburn recoiled in horror, wincing at the flapping vines.

 

Finn and Phasma shuddered, both reluctant to touch the fanged traps of death. Rey reached out to gently pet a vine, rolling her eyes at her friends’ squeamish reactions, though she too was wary. Their professor tended to go a little overboard with his plant selections, often favoring dangerous species that pumped thrill into his veins over practical plants needed for common knowledge.

 

She immediately zapped her arm away when a razor-sharp tooth came a millimeter away from capturing her slender index finger, ready to inject poison in an instant. Curses spilled out of her mouth in a rapid stream.

 

“New plan, you two deal with this demon, while I take notes,” Rey snapped, checking every inch of her hand to ensure she was not on her journey to death.

 

Finn parted his lips to protest, until he felt the intensity of Phasma’s withering glare. He gulped, raising his two hands in the air in surrender. “Fine, fine. But honestly, we don’t _need_ to observe anything. Our notes can consist of just three words:  _evil and poisonous_.”

 

The two Slytherins barked with laughter, nodding in agreement. Rey lifted her head to check if Professor Chewbacca had heard - nope, he was huddled in a deep discussion with another group in the corner. _Excellent_.

 

From the corner of her vision, she sensed somebody else’s eyes on her. Rey pivoted her head farther to the right to meet the dual glares of Kate and Frankie, their gazes coated in silent fury. Frankie immediately looked away upon being caught by Rey, the shy Ravenclaw’s cheeks flushing scarlet, but Kate continued to glower at her.

 

“Why,” Rey whispered loudly, “are Bluestocking and Blackburn staring at me like I murdered their cats?”

 

Finn’s hands froze, his fingers grazing the blades of a leaf as he turned to face her with widened eyes. “Did you murder their cats, Rey? Because I totally can see you doing that.”

 

“ _Of course not!”_ Rey snapped. “I’ve never done anything to them two.”

 

Phasma could not hold back a snort. “You sent their idol to the hospital wing, of course they’re mad at you.”

 

“... did you say their _idol_?” the Head Girl repeated, her mind flooding with puzzlement at which celebrity figure Rey had sent to the hospital wing in the past.

 

“Yeah, they absolutely _worship_ the grounds Ben Solo walks on,” Phasma stated nonchalantly, peering down at Finn’s little success made so far in his exploration of the Tentacula. “They’re part of his fan club.”

 

Rey’s mouth fell open, shooting her former roommate an incredulous stare. “I’m sorry, Phasma, I could have sworn you just said _Ben Solo has a bloody fan club_.”

 

“He does!” Finn piped up. “I’ve heard some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws talk about it before.”

 

“It’s quite big actually. A lot of girls around the school find Solo to be ‘handsome and mysterious’ and all that with his looks and his quiet aura,” Phasma commented.

 

“I don’t see what they’re talking about at all,” Rey muttered as mental images of Ben’s appearance floated to the forefront of her mind. Soft, black curls that framed his face, his defined cheekbones, his enigmatic brown eyes… She rapidly repressed these thoughts, though they lit her cheeks alight with pink.

 

“You three, how’s your progress going?” Professor Chewbacca grunted across the room in acknowledgement of the trio. Phasma immediately dialed off a slightly less-than-truthful response on the spot, while Rey picked up her quill to jot down notes.

  


===

  


“So here is a copy of my notes from Herbology today - we studied Venomous Tentaculas, you honestly didn’t miss much other than thirty ways to die. Did you know, when they’re _really_ mad, sometimes the Tentaculas spit spiky fireballs?” Rey rattled off, hastily brushing her sweaty palms on her skirt after handing over the pieces of parchment. “I learned it the hard way. Would _not_ recommend.”

 

Ben stared up at her, blinking rapidly, head tilted to the side so his cheek could lay on the pillow. His right hand raised the first page of her notes upwards towards the ceiling, his eyes squinting at the scrawled words on the parchment, while his left hand remained limply by his side, wrapped in layers of gauze.

 

His mouth parted to speak. “Your handwriting leaves much to be desired for,” Ben softly uttered, though Rey found no semblance of insolence in his tone.

 

She decided to give him a pass since he was lying on a bed, injured, on the _second_ day of school because of her. “Mhmm, I disagree. I think as long as it’s legible, anything goes.”

 

“You write like one of the school roosters hopped onto your page and dragged their claws around.”

 

Rey’s jaw dropped. “No I don’t!” she exclaimed. “Your handwriting is—bugger, I don’t really know what your regular handwriting looks like. The cursive you took notes with on the train was really good though.”

 

“But I always—” His lips pressed into a thin line, halting his words. “Never mind. Thank you, Johnson. I appreciate these notes a lot.”

 

Rey leaned back, unsettled by his change in tone. She found it easier to deal with the Head Boy when they were arguing, less so when they were in this current… _temporary_ truce, or whatever this was.

 

“Uh, you’re welcome,” Rey breathed out, scratching the back of her neck. “It’s really the least I can do while you’re stuck here for a few days.”

 

Ben huffed, the air expelling from his nostrils in deep exasperation. “Yeah… I really do miss classes. So this means a lot to me.”

 

Rey gave him a curt nod. Silence stretched for a long moment between them, the autumn winds whistling lowly as it whipped against the outside of the hospital wing, rustling the curtains and slapping her cheeks.

 

A shiver went down her spine, and she wrapped herself tighter in her robes. Unable to stand the chilled reticence further, she blurted out the question that had lain on the tip of her tongue for the entire day.

 

“So what did you mean earlier today, when you said you lost control during a duel before?” Rey uttered quickly. Her foot nervously tapped against the floor; she was afraid, _worried_ , that she had crossed a personal line.

 

The Ravenclaw’s gaze snapped to meet her hazel pupils, shining with curiosity. Ben clenched his lips, tightly squeezing his eyes shut before reopening them.

 

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I suppose it would help you understand that you’re not alone in this.” A pained glaze washed over his eyes. “When I was eight, I nearly killed my father.”

 

Rey’s thigh slipped off the wooden chair. His forthright confession penetrated her heart, as if a basilisk had sank its venomous fangs into her body, petrifying her limbs and freezing her blood.

 

“Your father— ” she stumbled upon the words, swallowing thickly, “—as in the esteemed Quidditch player Han Solo?”

 

“Yes,” Ben bitterly gritted out. “The Han Solo _indeed_.”

 

She reeled back in disbelief at his affirmation, her throat closed and words mute.

 

His gaze darted around the room, averting Rey’s incredulous stare. “I come from a star-studded legacy, as everyone knows already. Grandson of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, and Padme Amidala, former Minister of Magic. Nephew of Luke Skywalker, legendary Dark Arts-fighting master. Son of Leia Organa, Hogwarts Headmistress and former Rebellion leader, and Han Solo, international Quidditch star.”

 

Rey bestowed him an encouraging nod, gesturing for him to continue. The Solo-Organa-Skywalker family was, indeed, always featured in the press for the tiniest news tidbits.

 

“So it was a complete _shock_ to the family when I didn’t perform _any_ accidental magic when I was a child. Absolutely _none._ ” Ben squeezed his eyebrows, the pain of the memory deepening the lines and crinkles of his forehead. “My family was horrified. They did everything they could to try to _force_ the magic out of me.”

 

Rey’s hand flew to her mouth, as she furiously shook her head. “No, that’s bloody terrible!”

 

He scoffed. “Well, my family didn’t think so. You see, they couldn’t let the snobby reporters find out that their son or grandson was a Squib, you see?” His teeth gnashed together. “My grandmother and father were the _only_ people in my family who didn’t try things on me. They didn’t drop me from a window, throw things at me for me to dodge with magic, or anything.”

 

“But you can perform magic now,” Rey commented quietly.

 

“Yes,” he said. “My first time performing magic, my father had just told me he wouldn’t be able to make it home for my birthday. _Again._ Even though he _promised_ ,” he croaked. “And for eight-year-old me, that was the final straw.”

 

Fear sunk in her gut as Rey steeled herself for the bomb to drop.

 

“I unleashed eight years of repressed expectations and power in one single outburst.”

 

He choked out the last words in a hush, pained and raw.

 

Her breath hitched at his blunt confession. “What… what happened?” she stammered.

 

“My magic essentially exploded. In my outburst, the ground rattled and shook like an earthquake. I shattered all the windows in our house,” he breathed out with a blank look, his composure crumpling with every passing second. “And my magic pierced right through my father, like a dagger through his chest.”

 

His eyes glazed over, a watery sheen of heartbreak and horror spreading across his brown pupils. “I punctured his lungs, stabbing them to the point he very nearly died. If it weren’t for magic, he wouldn’t have survived.”

 

Rey shifted in her seat, her voice soft, brows drawing taut. “It was accidental magic,” she said. “You didn’t intend for it to happen.”

 

“But it _did_ happen!” he howled, his syllables echoing into the harsh fall winds streaming through the hospital wing’s windows. “I’m a _monster_ , and everyone in my family knows it. Luke was even there to witness it.”

 

A candle flickered beneath her eyelids, as Professor Skywalker’s words from class clicked in Rey’s mind. _I’ve seen this raw strength only once before._ Her professor had been referring to Ben, when he was younger; his first magical outburst had indeed been pure, raw strength.

 

But then, for Skywalker to tell her that her power scared him even more than Ben’s accidental unleashing of magic? That frightened Rey to her core. Was she… was she really that close to falling into the dark side? She crossed one leg over another, the sudden revelations and learnings making her dizzy.

 

“Your uncle witnessed it?” she asked. “How did he react?”

 

The Head Boy released a puff of aloof laughter. “Oh, it’s funny that you ask. After that day, he never treated me like a nephew anymore—not that he really did before that day, honestly.” Ben rolled his eyes, his gaze darting back to the ceiling. “He’s my professor, I’m his student, and we only talk in class. That’s it.”

 

Rey’s heart clenched in pain at hearing his confession. The Solo-Organa-Skywalker family truly mystified her, and her concept of _family_ ; the warmth and the love she had longed for and sought for many years prior to meeting the Ticos did not seem to exist in his home.

 

Even though the Ticos had welcomed her into their home with welcome arms, treating Rey as their true third daughter, Rey still never fully felt _ingrained_ within a true family. Perhaps it was the Ticos’ close inside jokes, their long history of familial bonding prior to Rey’s existence, or their complex household culture. Yes, Rey would sacrifice _anything_ if that meant the elderly Tico couple would never depart this universe, and she loved Paige and Rey deeply, but the feeling that something was _missing_ always lingered.

 

In that sense, she perfectly understood where Ben was coming from; he had parents, his uncle, and his grandparents while growing up, but they weren’t the family that Ben _needed_. He needed a family that could _listen_ to him, that was _there_ for him.

 

“I understand,” she spoke quietly, her right palm rubbing lazy circles on her left forearm. “Thank you for telling me all this.”

 

Her gaze met his for a long time, unspoken words flowing between them; of warmth, of comfort, of understanding. Soon, Ben’s lips stretched into a yawn, his eyelids slowly fluttering to a close. Hearing the soft snores emitted from his lips, Rey stood up and tiptoed out of the room.

 

That night, the two of them weren’t just the Head Boy and Head Girl; a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin; but merely a lost boy and a lost girl, shrouded in harsh clouds of reality, yet bonded by their broken pasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [bunilicious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunilicious) for creating these four GORGEOUS aesthetics above!!! Original Tumblr posts here: [Rey/Slytherin](http://bunilicious.tumblr.com/post/177552372967/moodboard-for-unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy), [Ben/Ravenclaw](http://bunilicious.tumblr.com/post/177552556637/moodboard-for-unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy), [Rose/Gryffindor](http://bunilicious.tumblr.com/post/177552686222/moodboard-for-unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy), [Finn/Hufflepuff](http://bunilicious.tumblr.com/post/177552716127/moodboard-for-unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy). Go check out her Reylo fic [ _Creature of Darkness_ ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15748527/chapters/36622266), I promise you won’t regret it.
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Magical children are prone to displaying accidental magic when feeling angry, scared, or confused. Most experts believe that if a child has magical ability, he/she will exhibit it by the age of seven.]
> 
> [This fic will include a series of cameos of actual Reylos I have known through Tumblr and Twitter. In this chapter, Kate Bluestocking is [SaturnineFeline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaturnineFeline)’s character profile and Frankie Blackburn is [Murakamism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/murakamism/pseuds/murakamism)’s character profile!]
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)), who is not only a brilliant writer, but an even greater friend. Thank you!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
>  
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	5. Silencio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben talk. Rey confronts several scary meetings. Then, Rey and Ben talk again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Silencio_ \- to render a victim temporarily mute.]
> 
> A big thank you to the wonderful [Melusine11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melusine11) for making this gorgeous moodboard below! Original Tumblr post [here](http://hellomelusine.tumblr.com/post/177373940491/reylo-au-week-2018-day-6-crossover-a).
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to everyone reading this story and commenting. You really kept me going as I wrote this difficult chapter. Thank you all for sticking with me for this chapter! You have no idea how much your support means to me. <3

The morning dew gleamed under the beaming sunlight, the yolk of life stringing through each blade of grass.

 

Bleary eyed, Rey trudged into the dark, dreary dungeons with precisely ten seconds to spare before Potions class started. As she slid into one of the last two empty seats, she did a small fist pump at her victory of punctuality.

 

Professor Threepio was less than pleased; he made that _very_ clear.

 

Rey shot him a cheeky grin.

 

With a lighter spring in her step, Rey floated through the rest of the day, heart feeling buoyant and glee flowing alight. Her talk with Ben the night before had inspired just as many questions as it had provided answers. But it blessedly relieved the mountain of guilt, shame, and fear that had descended upon her shoulders.

 

As she continued to seek balance in her magic, treading closely between the lines of light magic and dark intent, it comforted Rey to know that she wasn’t alone in her struggle.

 

When evening dawned, Rey returned to the hospital wing, to the familiar arched doors engraved with the mascots of the Hogwarts houses. Taking a deep breath, she lightly pushed the doors open.

 

The curtain near his bed was no longer drawn. From the door, she glimpsed the silhouette of a figure sitting up, leaning his head against the backboard. His focus was fixed upon a Golden Snitch zooming above his head, its diaphanous wings fluttering against the autumn breezes.

 

“Hello,” Rey timidly greeted.

 

At hearing her voice, Ben’s hand shot out to wrap the toy Snitch in his palm, halting its flight. He pivoted his head towards her, his gaze silent and rapt.

 

She strided over to the side of his bed. Her lips stretched into a radiant smile. “You can sit up now!”

 

He responded to her enthusiasm with a crooked grin. “Yes, I don’t need to lie down all the time now,” he said, petals of relief and gratitude blooming through his words. “Madame Holdo says I can leave sometime tomorrow.”

 

Rey clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful to hear,” she exclaimed with genuine glee. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a stack of parchment and handed it to the Ravenclaw.

 

Ben snatched the notes with the ferocity of a werewolf, snarling with hunger for knowledge. “Thank you very much,” he breathed out. His fingers flicked through the stack, his eyes darting across each page. Rey pretended not to see his visible wince while he skimmed her notes, eyes narrowed in a harsh squint to decipher her scrawl.

 

Halfway through the stack, his hands stilled. “This isn’t your handwriting,” he observed. “Are you even in the N.E.W.T. Charms class?”

 

Rey shook her head. “Nope.”

 

“Then how did you get these Charms notes?”

 

Rey could feel his questioning gaze lingering on her with an inflamed intensity; the waves of confusion rolling off his magic. She shrugged, a tiny smirk gracing her lips. “I have my ways.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “For a Slytherin, you’re sometimes not as clever as you think,” he quipped teasingly. He scratched his earlobe, deep in thought, until an idea unfurled within his mind. “Your friends are in Charms, right? Storm, Tico, Phasma—wow, that’s all of them. Yeah, I think they’re all in Charms.”

 

“Right...” her voice trailed off. Rey tilted her head to one side, her eyes narrowed, unsettled by how incredibly _accurate_ his answer was. _How does he know my friends so well?_ Despite her burgeoning curiosity, Rey chose not to voice the thought. “This is a copy of Rose’s notes. Apparently, Finn and Phas were arguing throughout the whole class on the pronunciation of the charm they were taught and neglected taking notes.”

 

Ben nodded knowingly. “Yep, they squabble like First Years sometimes. Tico is the only person that can ease their tension.”

 

“Merlin, _yes._ Do you remember our first Defense class last year? Finn still couldn’t do a simple nonverbal spell by the end of the class, so Phasma laughed at him for ages about it.”

 

Ben froze.

 

“I’ve never casted a nonverbal spell successfully.” His words were uttered in a remorseful hush, the corner of his lips quivering.

 

“Oh.” Her lips rounded into a curious “o,” before her lips pressed together in a narrow line. Shame coursed through Rey’s body, choking her original words. She had just insulted a Ravenclaw in the worst way—presuming that specific knowledge or intelligence was easy to procure, when it wasn’t. “I’m sorry—so sorry—that’s perfectly fine—”

 

“It’s not,” Ben snapped curtly. “It’s not fine. But I’ll just figure it out myself.”

 

“If you would like… I could help you. Teach you how to do them.”

 

Without thought, the words rushed out of Rey’s mouth; but it was too late to take them back. What was she doing, offering to spend _even more time_ with the boy she has harbored deep hatred for during the last six years?

 

It seemed as though anytime Rey stood in close proximity with her fellow Head, any semblance of rationality vanished like a silvery wisp of smoke.

 

Ben’s response saved Rey from further thought. “No, that’s okay,” he calmly replied, his words coated in determination. “I can learn them. Myself. I just need more time.”

 

She nodded weakly, relieved, but she also found herself… mildly disappointed. Rey shoved her emotions to the side, her heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird.  He lowered his gaze back to the parchment in his hands, brows furrowed in concentration as he intently devoured the remaining notes.

 

A hushful peace fell between them, only interjected with the piercing hoots of owls outside. When he finished reading, he looked up, raising an eyebrow upon noticing that Rey was still there.

 

“You—uh—why are you still here?” Ben stammered. His eyes widened as his words sunk in. “Well no, I didn’t mean that as a bad thing—it’s just no one else has come to visit me, so you don’t need to stay—”

 

“There’s a prefect meeting tonight,” she spoke slowly, saving Ben from further humiliation. She placed her palm on her knee, hoping to halt its nervous bouncing.

 

Ben shut his eyes, forehead creasing as he winced. “Right—sorry, I don’t think I can go to—”

 

“I need your help.”

 

Whatever Ben expected, this was not it. His mouth hung open, eyes blinking rapidly as his expressive gaze stared into her hazel pupils. _“I beg your pardon?”_

 

Rey sucked in a deep breath. “I know you can’t make the meeting tonight, and that’s completely fine. But that means I need to lead the meeting, which I don’t really know _how_.”

 

The Head Boy only continued to blankly stare at her, as if Venomous Tentaculas themselves had sprouted from her head.

 

Tendrils of dread creeped into her chest, weaving deeper through her heart with each passing second of silence. Rey shook her head, internally scolding herself for opening her idiotic mouth. “Never mind—I was stupid for asking—”

 

“No—no!” Ben furiously waved his non-injured hand to her. “That’s a perfectly fine question to ask. I’m just—I guess— _astonished_ you need to ask me that.” He gestured towards her, his gaze drawing vertically from her head to her toes. “You’re a natural born leader. You have nothing to worry about.”

 

The Slytherin scoffed. “That’s pure _rubbish_ ,” she snipped, refusing to meet his eyes. “You know perfectly well that I was a complete fool in the first meeting. There’s no bloody way any of them will listen to me now.”

 

“Rey.”

 

She snapped her gaze back to Ben instantly. Her name, enveloped in his soft, husky voice, caused her mind to swirl with foreign emotions. Ben had never personally referred to Rey by her first name before.

 

“Trust me, they will definitely listen to you,” Ben stated with certainty. “You’re _Rey Johnson_. Everyone in the school knows who you are. You earned this position because you are incredible all-around, and you’re going to be amazing in the meeting.”

 

Her cheeks flushed scarlet at his praise. Though she didn’t believe in all of his words—of course Ben was exaggerating to make her feel better—Rey sensed the walls of fear start to waver and crumble.

 

“Thank you,” she replied softly, biting down on her lower lip. Her eyes blazed radiantly, alight with hope and confidence. “I hope so too.”

  


===

  


The distant bell tolled nine times, its deep ringing reverberating through the stone castle, echoes bouncing off every corner and floorboard. Rey watched the ceiling chandelier gently vibrate throughout the duration of the bell’s chiming with fascination, the child within her never fading away. The dangling crystal prisms shook, but remained unwavered in their dangled positions.

 

“Alright, let’s begin! Glad everyone could make it to our second meeting, thank you all,” Rey spoke to the room of prefects, all of whom were staring up at her with widened eyes.

 

“Where’s Solo?” a Fifth Year Hufflepuff called out from the back of the room.

 

Murmurs of agreement spread like a tidal wave, engulfing the group instantly. “Yeah, where is the Head Boy?”

 

Rey inhaled deeply. Her prayers for a quick and smooth meeting seemed to have been ignored. Her eyes darted to the only familiar face in the room; Finn shifted in his seat, his eyes crinkled and his lips folded in worry.

 

“The Head Boy is currently incapacitated in the hospital wing,” she admitted. “I have been told that he will be leaving the hospital tomorrow.” Rey’s hands smoothed over her parchment, lips parted to speak—

 

“Is it true that you were the one who injured him?”

 

The beat of her heart pulsed cold, fear slithering into her chest like the Serpent of Slytherin.

 

“Yes.” The room turned quiet at her blunt confession, as though the temperature had dropped a few degrees with the mere utterance of those three letters. “It was an unfortunate accident that I have apologized to him for, and one that I sincerely hope will never occur again.”

 

Rey shifted the pressure from one heel to another as she awaited their reactions. One by one, the prefects accepted her response, bestowing her a respectful nod and turned to face her with complete attention, silent and rapt.

 

“Great! Let us start with solidifying the patrol schedule for the rest of September and begin brainstorming ideas for school events.” She waved her wand, and a chart flashed onto the blackboard.

 

“I was thinking we could use the current schedule, but rotate by one for the last two weeks of this month, so many of you can work with someone you haven’t worked with before.” Another flick of her wrist shifted the prefects’ names on the board. “Does anyone have any thoughts on this?”

 

Throwing a covert glance at her friend, Rey saw Finn hold his hand in a “thumbs up” sign. The corner of her lips tugged upwards.

  


===

  


Rey _never_ liked Thursdays.

 

The day that wretched Unkar Plutt kidnapped her? Thursday.

 

The day twelve-year-old Rey spilled her cauldron in Potions and melted all the classroom furniture? Thursday.

 

The day Poe Dameron dumped her in front of the whole school, after she kicked his arse in a Quidditch game? Thursday.

 

Today? Also a Thursday.

 

Which meant things were _bound_ to go wrong.

 

The streak of luck she endured yesterday, including the smooth-sailing prefect meeting, seemed to end the moment midnight struck.

 

Upon returning to her room after the prefect meeting, Rey went straight into the bathroom—the luxurious haven that she had sole possession for the night.

 

In theory, it was a wonderful idea; except she hadn’t realized how _exhausted_ she actually was. Once her limbs were soaked in the wonders of a relaxing, hot bath, her eyelids started to droop; the knots in her muscles eased amidst the vapors of warmth.

 

Her mind, swirling with dreams of fluttering snitches and flashes of neon blue light, succumbed to sleep.

 

When she awoke, hours had passed.

 

Rey jolted with a shock, banging her head on the edge of the tub.  Her fingers rapidly raised to soothe the swelling bruise on the back of her head, her eyes blinking incredulously as she took in the sight.

 

The massive tub, carved into the ground, was miraculously overflowing with water from Rey’s negligence. Water continued to pour from the numerous faucet tabs, while it continued to flood outwards into the rest of the bathroom.

 

She gripped the golden tabs and shut them off, her wrinkled fingertips aching at the sensation. Rey stood up, reckless droplets trickling off her golden sun-kissed skin, and stepped out of the tub.

 

On level ground, the water had flooded to the height of her ankles, inking every nook and cranny of the bathroom wet.

 

Rey sighed. Even with magic as an available tool, it was going to take a long night to clean this…

 

… and the long night edged into a long day when she overslept for Defense of the Dark Arts—yet again.

 

When Rey sprinted into the classroom, legs sore and chest heaving for oxygen, Professor Skywalker did not acknowledge her lack of punctuality. On the contrary, his brows lifted in an amused manner, his lips curving upwards as he clicked his tongue.

 

“Ms. Johnson, may I see you after class?”

 

Fear gnawed at her heart upon hearing his ominous request. “Yes, sir,” she released in a shuddery breath.

  


===

  


“Let’s go to my office. Less space for wandering ears, you see,” Professor Skywalker commanded. “Though since the days those blasted Extendable Ears were invented, we’ve never really had true privacy in this castle, hmm?”

 

Rey’s heart pounded in her chest, threatening to leap out of her throat at any moment. Butterflies rattled in her ribcage, pleading to escape, as dread and fear flooded her soul to the brim. She didn’t acknowledge his remark at all; rather, words spilled out of her conscience like a toppled stack of dominoes.

 

“Professor, I deeply apologize for coming to class late—again,” she blurted out. “I promise—really promise—that it won’t happen in the future.”

 

He sat down in his leather recliner, oddly propping his legs to cross in a meditation pose behind his desk. “Never again?”

 

Rey shook her head furiously. “Never.”

 

Professor Skywalker snorted. “Oh, _sure_.” He removed his wand from his holster, carefully stashing it in a box in his desk drawer. “Definitely have _never_ heard that line before.”

 

The Slytherin hurriedly opened her mouth for further justification, but he held his palm up to halt her. “No, don’t worry. I’m not mad at you about that.”

 

“You’re… not?” Rey timidly asked, biting her lower lip.

 

“You’re a bright student, Rey; as long as you master the material, it doesn’t matter when you arrive to class.” His lips curved upwards into a smirk. “Though it would be nice if you come to my class on time more often. Helps boost my ego, you know?”

 

She bobbed her head up and down. “Yes, sir.”

 

The professor’s lips quirked into an amused grin, before it slimmed into a narrow line, his expression turning grave. “Ms. Johnson, you understand why I was so angry about your—spell execution—on Tuesday?”

 

Rey cocked her head, not expecting this to be what Skywalker had called her into his office for. “Yes, Professor,” she stated. Her gaze drifted to her shoes, guilt bubbling up and resurfacing in her chest. “I know I was wrong, for allowing my emotions to dominate my control over my magic.”

 

Professor Skywalker hummed in agreement, tapping his finger on his desk as he waited for her to continue.

 

“I will work on controlling my magic better,” she said. After replaying the duel in her mind over the last two days, she had come to the conclusion she had definitely taken things too far, and that she needed to learn how to manage the duality of her magic better. “And I’ve visited and apologized to Solo.”

 

“Ah, yes. _Solo._ ” The surname sounded odd coming from Skywalker’s lips, as if a swirl of bitterness shrouded the four letters. “I do believe he will be departing the hospital wing sometime later today, if that eases your worries.”

 

Rey’s eyes widened. A soothing warmth blossomed in her conscience, relief radiating through her body.

 

“Last thing, please do remember to tell him about the project I assigned in class—you two are partners after all.”

 

The budding smile on her face instantly withered.

  


===

  


“... and I told her she can go worship her idols on her own. Seriously, I swear, she’s gotten even _creepier_ this year!” Rose exclaimed, her hands animatedly swinging through the air. “I can’t believe I have roomed with her for six years. Thank goodness this is the last year.”

 

Rey giggled. “You Gryffindors are a weird lot.”

 

“No, it’s just her! Lately in her _sleep_ , she’s been mumbling about—”

 

The portrait door to the Head Dormitories swung open, revealing the back of a figure, dressed in a navy blue jumper and black trousers. Arm outstretched in a menacing position, his wand was pointed at a stack of books laying on the earth-toned rug of the common room.

 

“—Solo,” Rose gasped. “You’re back!”

 

His head pivoted to meet the two girls’ curious gazes. Ben’s cheeks tinged pink at being caught; he quickly dropped his arm to his side. “Yeah, I’m back.”

 

“Hey,” Rey breathed out. A mix of emotions—joy, shock, relief, comfort—flooded her mind to the brim, overwhelming her with sensations.

 

Rose coughed lightly, turning on her heel. “I—I’ll just head out, okay? See you tomorrow, Rey.”

 

The Slytherin nodded, her gaze unwavering from his chocolate orbs. Rose’s words drifted through her ears and scattered into the castle winds, leaving no trace in her mind.

 

Finally, Rey looked away. “What are you doing?” she asked quietly.

 

“Er—” Ben scratched the back of his neck. “Just practicing nonverbal spells. Levitating the books.”

 

“Oh, you are? Let me take a look!” Rey plopped herself onto a black loveseat, leaning against a fluffy pillow.

 

“Oh.” A stunned expression crossed his face briefly, before it was washed away by a coat of determination. “Sure.”

 

Ben cleared his throat, brandishing his wand to point in the direction of the books. His brows furrowed and nose scrunched, he waved his wand in a powerful flourish.

  


The books did not budge.

  


His left eye began to twitch.

 

“Remember, a simple swish and flick,” Rey reminded him.

 

He nodded, but frustration was evident, his foot tensely tapping against the carpet. Ben sucked in a deep breath, before he refocused on the books again.

 

His wand followed her recommendation— _swish and flick!_ —but the books remained motionless.

 

Ben ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head and pinching his lips. A bead of sweat dripped down his hairline and past his flushed cheeks.

 

Rey swore internally, biting down on her tongue so she wouldn’t interrupt his concentration again. Her heart yearned to ease his irritation, but she had faith in him. She glared at the stack of books with the fury of a sharp-eyed hawk, admonishing the stationary objects for not adhering to Ben’s will.

 

The Ravenclaw straightened his back, tilting his chin high as he braced for another attempt. Ben narrowed his eyes at the books, every nerve in his body alight. His targets lingered motionless; laughing at him, mocking his every move.

 

He elevated his wand. His lips, pinched together, quivered with frustration as Ben waved his wand. His wrist sharply flicked upwards at the end of the motion.

 

Rey’s gaze followed the motion, his neck stretched forward and head panning upward; hope blossomed through her chest—

 

The books lay still.

 

“Let me help you,” she couldn’t help but blurt out. Her patience was wearing thin; she _wanted_ to see Ben succeed. “I promise, it’ll be quick.”

 

Rey shifted on the couch to reach for her wand, jammed deeply in her robe’s pockets. She missed seeing his eyes widen; the mixture of fear and disbelief gracing his face.

 

“So think of it like you’re summoning the spell into your mind—and focus all your energy on the incantation,” Rey explained with an enthusiastic gusto. “Then, mentally direct the words into your target, like you’re physically injecting it.”

 

She pointed her wand at the stack of books, scrunching up her face as she verbalized the First Year charm in her mind. _Wingardium Leviosa_ , Rey shouted in her brain, placing the utmost concentration in enunciating the unspoken incantation, while brandishing her wand.

 

Threads of magic swirled around her. Soon, the books began to hover, drifting inch by inch upwards to the ceiling.

 

“So just like that!” Rey exclaimed delightfully.

 

Her head lifted to see Ben’s reaction—and her heart dropped.

 

He seemed neither prideful, nor annoyed at Rey’s impromptu demonstration. His body, stiffer than a wooden plank, heaved with the forced restraint of a man about to explode. Ben scrubbed a hand over his face, teeth gritted and jaw clenched.

 

His brown eyes ignited in a furious blaze, burning into her soul with wrath—an intense anger unlike any she’d experienced before.

 

“I don’t _need_ your help,” he uttered icily, punctuating each word with a distinct pause.

 

Rey exhaled, her voice poisoned with a twinge of regret. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound pretentious—”

 

“I told you, I don’t need your help!” Ben growled. “You’re just a _nobody_.”

 

She choked back a sob.

 

_Surely he didn’t mean that._

 

Rey turned her gaze to the carpeted floor, silently mapping over the swirling patterns, trying to lead her mind astray from his hurtful comment that hit a little _too close_ to home.

 

“A mere nobody my mother took pity on,” Ben continued. “I heard she had to kidnap you from the streets to convince you to come.”

 

“So why should _I_ listen to _you_?”

 

Her eyes, a dark, thoughtful hazel coated with a glimmering sheen, turned icy as they pierced through his head. Hatred and sorrow alike lit aflame in her heart; a roaring fire that grew with each flicker. She drew her brows taut, her forehead wrinkling with lines of raw pain.

 

How—how _dare_ he accuse her of being the identity she had tried _so hard_ to shed; how dare he impose the mask of the young girl she had tried _so hard_ to to forget.

 

Rey could not breathe; she could not think. Her chest heaved with fury, broken gasps escaping from her trembling lips.

 

“You’re right,” she whispered. “I’m a _nobody_ . I come from nothing—I’m _nothing_.” She delivered the last word with forte, yet her lips quivered like the jerky wings of a broken Snitch, betraying her facade.

 

Ben’s face crumbled. “That’s—that’s not what I meant—”

 

“I don’t need to hear your words. I am just a _nobody_ after all.” She turned on her heels, sprinting into her bedroom.

 

“But I’m something more than _you_.” 

 

She slammed the adjoining common room door behind her and slumped to the ground, her back pressing up against the mahogany wood.

 

“Wait, Rey—”

 

Rey closed her eyes and buried her head into her chest, kneading her temples. Her chest heaved with deep, stuttering breaths, as she tried to calm her hammering heartbeat. She couldn’t—she _won’t—_ give into her emotions _yet again_ , especially around _him_.

 

“Rey—let me in— _please!_ ”

 

She reached for her wand and jerked her wrist in an arc. “ _Silencio,_ ” Rey croaked.

 

Perhaps her spell worked, for she no longer could hear Ben’s pleading cries; only the slaps of the howling winds against the castle walls interrupted the reticence. Or, maybe he had finally understood her hints and left her alone, so she could sort through her emotions—and her past—in peace.

 

Inside her heart, and outside the castle, a storm was brewing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> [@mrsvioletwrites](https://mrsvioletwrites.tumblr.com/) created this incredible art gif!!! Isn't it AMAZING? Go check out the still version on Tumblr [here](https://mrsvioletwrites.tumblr.com/post/177544872163/reylo-au-harry-potter-crossover-for-day-6-of).
> 
> * * *
> 
> If you would now like to read some toothrotting fluff, feel free to check out my new Reylo oneshot [Secret Admirers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16097903).
> 
> I’m also currently running a calligraphy/writing/moodboard giveaway on Tumblr which ends on October 30, 2018. Check it out [here](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com/post/178294657198/1000-follower-giveaway-i-cannot-believe-it) if you’re interested!
> 
> Thank you to my incredible beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)), who supported me endlessly with my struggles in this chapter.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	6. Deletrius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tries her best to avoid Ben, attends Quidditch tryouts, and receives a strange message from the Inner Eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Deletrius_ \- to erase the shadow of the last spell performed by a wand]
> 
> Thank you to the sensational [LikeMmmCookies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeMmmCookies/pseuds/LikeMmmCookies) for making this wonderful moodboard below! Ben’s face in the moodboard is exactly how I imagined him after Rey beat him in the duel a few chapters ago. Original Tumblr post [here](https://bisexual-dilemmas.tumblr.com/post/177953665192/unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy-id-rather).
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to Aichan130, who summed up all our thoughts right now: _“BOI SOLO YOU DUN GOOF.”_

 

Excited chatters could be heard across the entire length of the Hufflepuff table, students all eager to begin their Fridays with a hearty meal. The morning sky was cloudy and overcast, the Great Hall reflecting the raging storm of the night before.

 

“Rey,” Finn solemnly pronounced, “are you okay?”

 

Before she could even blink and formulate a response, Finn yelped out in pain; it was clear that Rose had kicked her boyfriend under the table. And Rey _knew_ from experience the Gryffindor girl may look like tiny, but her shin kick packed a punch— _literally_.

 

She should really ask Rose one day how she does it.

 

“What Finn _meant_ to say is—how was your night?” Rose gritted out, her voice turning tender towards the last few words.

 

“It was fine,” Rey snapped. She winced when her ears processed her harsh tone; these were her best friends and didn’t deserve to be spoken to so belligerently. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude. It wasn’t a great night.”

 

As if her bloodshot eyes and puffy face hadn’t already given _that_ implication away. Sitting among a table of gleeful and chirpy Hufflepuffs, Rey stuck out like a sore thumb.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rose whispered sympathetically. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, okay? Just know that we’re here for you.”

 

Shoulders slumped, Rey gave a weak nod and a hesitant smile, unspoken gratitude flowing between them. She stared at her plate intently as she pushed baked beans in circles with her fork.

 

She would not let Ben Solo’s voice replay in her mind again, like it had haunted her dreams for the entire night.

 

_“...You’re just a nobody...”_

 

_“...A mere nobody my mother took pity on...”_

 

_“...so why should I listen to you?”_

 

One of the beans was violently pushed off the edge of her plate, bouncing onto the tablecloth. Rey jerked out of her pensive trance.

 

Beside her, Finn and Rose exchanged a concerned look.

  


===

  


On the weekends, it was easy to avoid someone you didn’t want to see.

 

Rey chose to hide out by the lake; its breathtaking autumn views lifted the burdens of reality off her shoulders, immersing her in its fleeting beauty. Scarlets and tangerines dotted the foliage, a hearty gale blowing across the mile of royal blue. Ripples washed over each other in looping circles, glimmering under the radiant sun.

 

She inhaled deeply, savoring the sensations of the crisp air entering her lungs. Having set her backpack on a soft green expanse, her feet broke out in a spontaneous run.

 

As the soles of her shoes slapped against tussles of grass threaded with dew, Rey felt free. She didn’t need to care about her past, her family, her magic; in that moment, it was just a seventeen-year-old girl running along a lake.

 

When she rounded the corner, she thought she saw a dark shadow pass by in a castle’s window; a blurry outline that was too quick for her to make out.

 

But perhaps her eyes—or the sun, perhaps—were just playing a trick on her.

 

Rey continued to run. Only when her stomach growled, hours later of enjoying the stunning wonders of nature, did she stride back to the castle. Then, the remainder of her day, and the next, was split between sneaking into the kitchens, camping out in her room, and jogging along the lake.

 

She didn’t _dare_ to set foot in the school library.

 

Rey was able to fit some schoolwork in her schedule nonetheless—after all, there were only so many things one could do when confined to one’s room. (How Rey _longed_ for her phone during times like these; why, oh _why_ , couldn’t Muggle technology work at Hogwarts?)

 

Arithmancy problem set— _check_.

 

Potions essay— _check_.

 

Start Defense project— _wait a second_.

 

The rays of hope and lifted spirits that had just begun to seep through her heart were instantly shrouded in darkness.

  


===

  


“I would like to remind you all that your project is due in exactly three weeks from today,” Professor Skywalker stated while pacing the front of the room. “Please make time to work with your partners on this.”

 

Rey chanced a glance at Ben, who thankfully did not feel her gaze on him.

 

He looked just as broken as she was.

 

Possibly even more.

 

Her eyes widened as she drank in every detail, her heart crumbling with each passing second. His skin, a sickly pale. His eyes, marked by deep bags of exhaustion. His hair, usually well combed and parted, was wildly unkempt.

 

“These next two weeks, we will be focusing on dark creatures, We’ll start with reviewing the ones you have learned in previous years. Divide into your usual pairs, and list as many dark creatures and their characteristics as you can.”

 

She muffled the groan that threatened to escape her lips; she always favored physical demonstration days over content review lessons. Not to mention that she needed to talk to Ben now…

 

Swinging her bag over her right shoulder, she trudged across the room and slid into the seat next to him. “Hey.”

 

“Uh, hey.”

 

They glanced at each other, chocolate meeting hazel.

 

“We should…” Rey trailed off, clearing her throat. “Let’s start writing down dark creatures, yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Ben croaked out, voice strained, eyes fixed closely on her. “Dark creatures. Yeah.”

 

“Okay.”

 

She reached into her bag to take out her parchment and writing tools with trembling hands, the parchment crinkling between her fingers.

 

Silence stretched for a long moment between them. 

 

“So, uh…” The back of her quill scratched against her chin, a soft swish that temporarily distracted her from the itch in her heart. “Vampires. Banshees. Er… Grindylows. We studied those… Right?”

 

He swallowed. “Right.”

 

“Cornish Pixies… Werewolves… Blast-Ended Skrewts… Trolls…”

 

Rey paused when she realized that her listing of creatures was only responded with silence. Her gaze drifted to his desk, his parchment still blank, wholly untouched.

 

“Ben?” His head jerked upwards the instant his name flew out of her mouth. “Are you going to help?”

 

“Hmm? Oh, right. Sorry.” His eyes were fixated on her, dazed. “I was—er—just thinking.”

 

“Thinking,” she repeated.

 

“...Yes.”

 

“Okay. What have you come up with?”

 

His eye twitched. “Uh—um—”

 

“It’s fine.” She huffed. “I forgot, you don’t _need_ my help.”

 

His already pallid cheeks paled even further to a shade devoid of any color. “That’s… that’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

 

“Oh?” She cocked her head, staring defiantly into his wide eyes. “What _did_ you mean?”

 

“Rey—” He let out a shuddering breath. His tone was pleading, beseeching, tendrils of guilt stretching out to wrap around her. “I’m—”

 

“—not working on your assignment when you were told to do so, Mr. Solo,” Professor Skywalker finished for him. “Have you written down any dark creatures and characteristics, Ms. Johnson?”

 

“Um…” Rey bowed her head, eyes frantically scanning her page and desperately avoiding Ben’s intent gaze. Her cheeks _burned_ ; with embarrassment, with remnant slivers of anger, with curiosity at his unfinished words. “Yes, Professor.”

 

“Wonderful, let’s hear them!”

  


===

  


The next two weeks passed in a blur of classes, homework, patrols, and more jogs around the lake. School veered into the steep haze of endless work, the time when professors shed their easy-going, back-to-school mask and entered their mode of relentless, unforgiving work.

 

Finally, Slytherin Quidditch tryouts rolled around—the first thing Rey had looked forward to in weeks.

 

It was a sunny Saturday with light breezes—perfectly ideal conditions for flying. With her TIE Flyer broomstick in hand, she marched onto the Quidditch pitch, joining other Slytherin candidates.

 

“Alright, you punks.”

 

Phasma’s booming no-nonsense tone immediately captured the entire group’s attention. She tapped her quill against a clipboard, her lips folded in a narrow line.

 

“Chasers up first. If you aren’t a Chaser, go sit your ass down over there.”

 

Rey bit her cheek to repress her laughter as she saw the amount of eyebrows raised at the Captain’s crude language. The experience of meeting Phasma for the first time was jarring for many.

 

“Okay, you all. We have three regular Chaser spots and two alternates, and nine of you are here. So _four_ of you will be _cut_ ,” Phasma enunciated with the cold precision of a dagger. “To judge who will be stay, and who will be kicked off the team, I will put you all through _hell_ today.”

 

The face of a Third Year paled. Rey could sense the gears churning in his head, fear and regret washing over him like a waterfall.

 

“Ten laps, go!” Phasma barked. The shrill screech of her silver whistle made the whole group wince.

 

One by one, the Slytherins ascended into the air. Rey swung her leg over her broom, digging her heels into the ground to kick off. Her broom drifted up lazily, her pale green jersey billowing in the light autumn breeze. She guided her broom to the edge of the stadium, drawn into the drift of the laps.

 

With a steady gain of momentum, Rey glided to the front of the group. A whoop of glee escaped her lips as she swerved around the corner. The wind slapped against her flushed cheeks, her wavy brown tresses bouncing behind her ears.

 

Rey hadn’t felt such freedom in a long time. Adrenaline rushed through her blood; her lungs gasped and clawed for oxygen, yet she hadn’t felt so content in a long time—pure, unadulterated happiness. Her mouth blossomed into a large grin, teeth peeking between her lips.

 

“Stop looking so damn happy, Johnson. You know perfectly well that tryouts are torture, this is not meant to be a playdate!”

 

Rey smirked, glancing down to meet Phasma’s lingering gaze, hard yet amused. “It’s called smiling, Captain, you should try it sometime!”

 

“That’s fifty extra pushups when you finish!”

 

The Third Year boy behind her grimaced at such a punishment. Rey only grinned harder, the smile on her face threatening to crack her jaw; she loved being challenged, and Phasma knew it.

 

Her fingers gripped the broomstick’s handle even tighter. She put on an extra burst of speed, darting ahead of the group in a whizzing blur of green and silver.

 

With each completed lap, the distance between her and the group only grew. Rey snarled and beamed, proud yet wanting more, the snake within her baring its fangs in a fierce show of competitive dominance.

  


===

  


“Johnson, you’re on the team.”

 

Phasma’s words were cold and crisp, clearly enunciated against the whirling howls of the winds. They sank into Rey’s mind, slowly, imprinting like a drop of dripping ink.

 

_You’re on the team._

 

She pumped her fist into the air, a crooked grin spreading across her face.

 

Rey had expected to make the team, as a member of the Slytherin team for three years past, but the notion of never expecting the best was etched in her heart, a strong lesson lingering from the spectre of her childhood.

 

She exchanged high fives with her captain and teammates, new and old. Her mind whirled with the prospects of the near future—frequent practices (and knowing Phasma, _morning practices_ ), thrilling tournaments, scouting, and lots and lots of flying, which was _always_ a good thing.

 

A shadow lurked in the bleachers; the dark silhouette of a young man, a lost boy framed in regret.

  


===

  


Only one table remained empty; a crickety round, wooden table that tilted back and forth on a stilted leg.

 

Rey sighed. She had no choice but to sit down at that table, watching it sway side to side, the teacups laying upon them shaking in their saucers.

 

“Good morning, Rey Johnson,” Professor Kanata said softly, walking towards her.

 

“Morning, Professor,” greeted Rey. She bowed her head down, ruffling through her bag, before a harsh whisper sounded from beside her.

 

“Dear child…” The hairs of Rey’s neck rose up at sensing the hot puffs of breathing on her skin. She wheeled around to stare down at Professor Kanata, standing inches away from Rey’s face. Her gleaming eyes, the size of tennis balls, shined with a sheen of amusement.

 

“Yes, Professor…?”

 

“The belonging you seek is not behind you…” the Divination professor whispered, appearing not to hear Rey. Her eyes grew wider, glowing in a trance. “It is _ahead_ …”

 

A tingling shiver flowed through her blood, rattling Rey’s composure. Professor Kanata’s eyes started to roll, almost as if she was about to have a seizure. Her heart hammering against her chest, Rey sat in a panic, contemplating whether she should suggest to send her professor to the hospital wing until Professor Kanata spoke again, in a harsh whisper unlike her usual voice:

 

_“Darkness rises, but light will meet it…  Influences run wild… and a storm will rage on, chained within… One will grow closer as two grow farther, as the twelfth month dies… The belonging you seek… is not behind you… It is ahead…”_

 

Rey sat there, gaping at her professor, body frozen to her stool. “...Professor?”

 

The elderly woman straightened her back, her eyes snapping back on the Slytherin. “I’m so sorry, dear child…” She spoke with a dreamy tone, the familiar dazed sheen washing over her pupils. “I must have… drifted off there. It is quite exhausting, you know, keeping up the Inner Eye.”

 

Rey glanced around. No one else had seemed to witness their odd exchange of words.

 

“Is there anything wrong, my dear?”

 

The Head Girl stared at her. “You—you just mentioned something about darkness and light. And, uh, something about a belonging…?”

 

The professor rose on her toes to peer closely at Rey. “I think you need some sleep, dear girl.”

 

“No,” Rey insisted, “You definitely said something about the twelfth month dying…”  

 

“You must have dozed off too,” stated Professor Kanata, her chin held high. “I would never presume to predict anything that random.”

 

Rey reeled in thought, confused replays of what she just heart blotting through her mind. _The belonging I seek… what belonging? Who will grow closer and who will grow farther?_

 

Had… had she just heard Professor Kanata make a real _prophecy_?

 

The professor stepped away, pacing to the front of the room with quick, confident steps. She lifted her wand, ready to show the lesson on the backboard, before her eyes snapped to the door.

 

“BENJAMIN SOLO!”

 

Rey jumped in her seat, all prophetic mumblings instantly forgotten. Professor Kanata’s booming shout shook her table, the delicate porcelain teacups trembling from the reverberations.

 

Ben carded his fingers through his dark tousled waves. An embarrassed blush graced his cheeks. “Hi, Professor,” he whispered meekly.

 

“You’re LATE!”

 

Soft snickers spread around the classroom at her proclamation.

 

The professor may have sounded stern, but tender wrinkles framed her face, her pink lips stretching into a warm grin. “Don’t worry, I haven’t started class yet. My Inner Eye told me that you would be late.” She turned around, back facing the class. “Just take a seat please, Ben.”

 

He heaved a sigh of relief, until his eyes performed a cursory glance around the room in search of an empty seat.

 

His gaze landed on her, dark and intense. She met his stare with a sharp intake of breath, breaking the eye contact quickly.

 

Her eyes fell to the empty chair across her.

 

_… an empty chair._

 

The _only_ empty chair remaining in the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> A MASSIVE thank you to [@constellationsinmytea](https://constellationsinmytea.tumblr.com) for making this GORGEOUS art piece depicting the scene in Ch. 3 where Rey fastens Ben’s tie! It’s so beautiful, I haven’t stopped crying since seeing it… Go follow her #Inktober series on Tumblr!!! Original post [here](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com/post/179144566013/constellationsinmytea-inktober-16-unwritten).
> 
> * * *
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)) for beta'ing this chapter for me!
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
>  
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	7. Reparo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben talk over tea. Then, Rey visits a special friend in the kitchens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Reparo_ \- to fix something that has been broken]
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to VeriLee: _“But nooooo, Luke had to tell them to do schoolwork as if they were in class or something....”_

 

  


“A very challenging skill in Divination is to predict the future and read signs for another person,” Professor Kanata explained, pacing around the classroom between tables. “So your task today is to do that with the person sitting across from you.” She gestured her wand at a desk, pointing to the teacups. “You’ll start simple—reading tea leaves.”

 

The rustle of sleeves sounded throughout the room as every student reached forward to peer into an empty teacup. Rey leaned forward; dried, scattered leaves, dark brown and crushed into powder, nested in clumps on the bottom of the cup.

 

“Now, pour water into your cups.”

 

Rey grasped the silver kettle and gently tilted it, eyes zeroed in on the stream of boiling water, silvery wisps of steam clouding their table.

 

“Allow the water to stand for three minutes.”

 

Once she set the kettle back on the table, Ben picked it up and followed her motions. She stared into her cup, steadily averting the lingering, _burning_ gaze of the boy sitting across her.

 

“Hey.”

 

Against her will, her head jerked up at his soft whisper. “Um, hi.”

 

“How—how are you doing?” His large hands cradled the kettle, unperturbed by the flaming heat of the metallic sides, gently depositing it onto the tabletop. “I… don’t think I’ve seen you around lately,” Ben blurted rapidly, fingers drumming nervously on his thigh. “Not—not that I’ve been, er, stalking you. Yeah—”

 

“I’m doing fine,” said Rey politely, ending Ben’s plight. “Thank you for asking. And you?”

 

“Er… I’ve been doing well.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Silence befell them again, wrapping them in its cold, pitiless embrace. Rey could hear the mocking tick of the clock, reminding her that she needed to endure a _further_ two minutes before they could move onto the next step of tea leaf reading—

 

“I saw you at the Quidditch tryouts.”

 

Her hands, half outstretched to pick up her teacup for a momentary glance, instantly stilled. “What?”

 

“I was—” He swallowed thickly, unable to find words suitable. “I was in the stands.”

 

“... for the _Slytherin_ tryouts?”

 

“Uh—um—yes,” stammered Ben. He casted his protuberant eyes upon her, dark and unwavering.

 

Rey tilted her head to the side. “But you don’t even play—”

 

“Congratulations, by the way.” His face flushed scarlet, cheeks puffed out as if those words burst out of him like an uncontrollable predator, begging to be released from its cage. “Congratulations on making the team again.”

 

Of all the things Rey expected to come out of his mouth, this was not one of them.

 

“Oh.” Her lips puckered into a round shape, words rendered mute. “Er—”

 

“The three minutes are up!” Professor Kanata’s gleeful voice rang aloud across the classroom. “Now, drink the contents of your cup until only a very small amount of liquid remains in the bottom of the cup.”

 

Ben and Rey glanced at each other, her bright hazel pupils meeting his dark hickory orbs. Neither moved to reach for their cups, frozen in a limbo of hesitance and silence.

 

“Now now, drink up, Ms. Johnson and Mr. Solo! How are you two going to read each other’s tea leaves if you can’t _see_ the leaves?”

 

The two Heads hastily obeyed, nursing their teacups in their palms as they downed the bitter, brown liquid. The tea _burned_ Rey’s throat, lighting every nerve in her body aflame, but it helped calm the roaring tempest of emotions in her heart.

 

She set her nearly empty teacup down forcefully, gulping for air as her tongue recovered from the scalding liquid. Across from her, Ben was in a similar shape, chest heaving for oxygen.

 

“Exchange your cup with your partner’s.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Rey slid her teacup across the table with trembling fingers, receiving Ben’s teacup in return. Peering downwards, she saw scattered wet lumps of brown powder.

 

“Now—take out your textbook, and analyze their future!” concluded Professor Kanata with a light clapping of her hands.

 

Rey flipped open _Unfogging the Future: Advanced Divination_ , her thumb caressing the edges of the pages, to complex diagrams of tasseography. Unfamiliar arrows, shapes, and angles cluttered her vision.

 

“Do you see anything in my cup?” asked Ben, also perusing page three hundred ninety four.

 

“Besides a load of soggy brown stuff?” she quipped, clenching her lips shut when she realized what she uttered. “Er, I mean—”

 

He chuckled, shoulders shaking with silent peals of laughter. “Don’t worry, I feel the same way. Reading tea leaves has never been my specialty...”

 

Rey lifted her head in surprise. It’s the first time she had heard him laugh, and she must admit—it suited him, much more than the quiet moodiness, the pained, wrinkled frown of a boy who was forced to grow into an adult too quickly.

 

Unbeknownst to herself, the corner of her lips tugged upward into a soft smile.

 

“Right, um…” Ben gazed down into her teacup, brows furrowed in concentration. “It… seems like you’ve got a cross here?” He turned his head to consult the textbook. “That means you’re going to experience ‘emotional turmoil and suffering,’ potentially ‘death’...”

 

He paused his analysis to glance at Rey’s rapidly paling face. “Or—uh—hang on… I might just be really bad at this…” He turned the teacup the other way up. “Oh! It could be an anchor, from this angle… that’s ‘prosperity in one’s love life’...”

 

“My love life… _right_ …” snorted Rey. “This is really just all bollocks. My turn, I guess?” She looked down, peering over her dark eyelashes. “Hmm… There’s a blob here that looks like a cloud… yeah… that means ‘serious troubles’...”

 

“... I’m not surprised.”

 

“Yeah, both of our teacups have been pretty depressing…” She rotated the cup to a different angle and squinted. “Could be a mountain range now… ‘unexpected new endeavors,’ how nice!”

 

“Huh… _new endeavors_ , interesting…”

 

She turned the cup in her hand again. “This looks kind of like a fox, with its ears perking up here, I guess… what’s that mean?” Rey scanned her textbook. “‘Backstabbing from someone close to you’... oh dear…”

 

“Gotta watch out for my back, I guess.”

 

They both had to stifle their laughs as Professor Kanata looked in their direction. The table fell quiet again, Head Boy and Head Girl meeting each other’s sheepish gazes.

 

“I’m sorry,” Ben breathed out in a hurried whisper.

 

Rey inhaled sharply. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that conversation yet. “You—”

 

“I’m sorry for what I said that night,” he continued on. “I lost my temper; I was foolish, stupid, and not in the right state of mind at all. But that doesn’t excuse the incredibly harsh words I said to you, none of which you deserved.”

 

“I…” Her mind slated to a blank, struggling to form coherent words. “What you said hurt me a lot that night.”

 

“I know.” He swallowed thickly. “You’re _not_ a nobody. At all. You mean a lot to many people, many people here especially…” Ben took another deep breath. “I’m truly sorry. You don’t need to forgive me or anything… I just needed to—”

 

“I appreciate your apology.” She inhaled deeply, cementing her decision with her next breath. “And I forgive you.”

 

Ben cast a look of surprise and gratitude upon her. She responded with a soft smile.

 

“Let’s just put this all behind us, shall we?”

  


===

  


Rey slid off to the kitchens for lunch. Paige had taught her and Rose one of the castle’s greatest secrets, one she was extremely grateful for as she often craved on late nights of procrastination.

 

She wanted to be alone; to center her thoughts and clear her mind.

 

Tiptoeing very quietly, Rey pulled open the hidden door to the kitchens and entered the enormous room. Her eyes roamed over the towering stacks of glittering brass pots and pans, leaning against the stone walls, when something small hurtled toward her, squealing, “Miss Rey! Miss Rey!”

 

The wind was knocked out her as the squealing house elf flew into her legs in a whizzing blur, squeezing its arms tightly around her right leg. “Miss Rey is here!”

 

Rey crouched down, gently patting the overeager house elf’s head. “Beebee, how have you been?”

 

Beebee released its tight embrace and stepped back a few paces. It beamed up at Rey with round, green eyes, its face characterized by a pencil-shaped nose. The house elf wore a cream-colored garment, patterned with tangerine circles, a tea cozy precariously balanced atop its head as a lopsided hat.

 

“Much better now that Miss Rey came to visit the kitchens!” Its batlike ears perked up, wiggling in excitement. “Beebee had a wonderful summer. Beebee went on vacation in Ireland!”

 

“Ireland!” echoed Rey with an exaggerated gasp. Her heart swelled with joy for the little elf. It wasn’t so long ago when house elves couldn’t take paid holidays; only thanks to Ministry reforms a Hogwarts alumna had pushed for did the policy finally change. “That’s bloody brilliant.”

 

“Yes!” Beebee’s eyes grew impossibly wider. “Beebee and Artoo visited an island. Beebee saw the most peculiar birds, Miss Rey! They were orange and white and gray, and they’d flap their little wings around!“

 

“Wow! Very cool, Beebee.”

 

“And they scream too! They scream very loud, Miss Rey. Especially when Beebee roasted one over a fire—”

 

“How is Artoo doing, Beebee?” she interrupted the house elf’s ramblings. Rey swallowed her instinct to gag at the mental image of an adorable bird slow-cooked over a fire pit.

 

Beebee shifted nervously on its feet. “Artoo—Artoo is growing older, Miss Rey. He’s sleeping quite often, and Beebee needs to take care of him.”

 

“Oh. Well, that is very generous of you, Beebee. Please send Artoo my best wishes.”

 

The house elf nodded furiously, a coat of determination glossing its wide eyes. “Beebee will.” Beebee’s eyes flicker in a sudden revelation. “Would Miss Rey like any food?”

 

Right on cue, her stomach rumbled.

 

Squeaked giggles escaped Beebee’s lips. “Food coming right up, Miss Rey!”

 

Instantly, four house elves trotted behind Beebee, bearing a large silver tray laden with lidded plates and bowls.

 

“Sit!” squeaked Beebee. Rey obeyed. “Miss Rose said Miss Rey shall not starve—”

 

“—she said that six years ago, Beebee—”

 

“—so Beebee will not let Miss Rey starve!” With a crisp snap of its fingers, Beebee levitated the tray onto the counter, shifting it in front of her.

 

Her stomach gurgled again as the divine aroma of food wafted into her nostrils, hitting her with a full force. She lifted the lids to find a bowl of tomato bisque, rosemary chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, and slices of bread.

 

“Oh…” she breathed out, speechless by the feast laid out beneath her eyes. “You really didn’t need to—”

 

“We is happy to serve Miss Rey!” one house elf piped up.

 

“Thank you all,” Rey told the house elves in a gentle tone. They beamed at her, bowing lowly before retreating, leaving Beebee and Rey alone.

 

“Beebee, thank you too. I’ve missed you so much.” She patted its head again lightly. Beebee purred like a cat, joyous to receive praise.

 

The house elf grinned, a smile that was cheeky and prideful, yet wistfully sentimental. “Beebee missed Miss Rey too. Beebee needs to go now, but please come visit the kitchens more, Miss Rey!”

 

She hopped out of her chair to squat down on the floor, wrapping Beebee in a warm embrace. The house elf squeaked in a yelp of delighted surprise, before returning the hug. Finally, she released Beebee, and waved as it scurried away in departure.

 

Climbing back onto her stool, Rey reached into her bag to take out a ballpoint pen and a blank letter paper, lightly crinkled but unstained. In between mouthfuls of food, she began to write a long overdue letter for the Ticos. Though she didn’t write frequently, Rey liked to maintain regular correspondence with them.

 

The words and emotions poured out with the eager gush of a waterfall, as ink flowed from her pen, the familiar metallic feel warming in her grip.

 

_Dear Mrs. and Mr. Tico,_

 

_I am so sorry it has taken me this long to write you two a letter, but school and life caught up with me. These last few weeks have been quite chaotic, nothing like I had expected Seventh Year to go._

 

_Before you ask, yes, I have been eating enough. The food at Hogwarts remains excellent everyday. When I don’t eat in the Great Hall, Beebee has taken upon itself to feed me until I swell like a bloated balloon. Like right at this moment, actually..._

 

_School is going well! Definitely very busy. Classes are fine, but Head Duties have had its ups and downs. Ben Solo, who is the Head Boy, and I need to work closely for Head Duties, but he is a very confusing person. One minute, we would get along decently well; the next minute, we would be at each other’s throats. What should I do?_

 

_How are you two and Paige doing? Can’t wait to hear from you all!_

 

_Lots of love,_

_Rey_

 

Bobbing her head in a satisfied nod, she folded the letter and sealed it into an envelope. Her heart swelled with saudade for the Ticos, the only people she considered to be her family.

  


===

  


“Thank you all for coming to tonight’s meeting,” said Rey. “September has been a wonderful, smooth-sailing month, please give yourselves all major kudos.”

 

“Indeed,” echoed Ben, “this September set a record for lowest amount of late night infractions committed by the students in the first month of a school year in the last fifty years, which points to excellent patrolling and leadership from you all.” He and Rey clapped enthusiastically, starting a spread of light applause across the classroom.

 

“Tomorrow will be the first of October—so it is important for to prepare for all the changes the school will undergo.”

 

Light murmurs could be heard, as prefects speculated the potential possibilities of change.

 

“During today’s meeting, we need to set a new patrol rotation, go over safety regulations needed for the impending Quidditch season, and discuss the possibility of Halloween festivities—”

 

The murmurs bubbled into an uncontrollable explosion of eager discussion.

 

“Halloween!” echoed Finn excitedly. “Yes, we’ve never celebrated with anything beyond the feast!”

 

“Decorations! We must have awesome decorations, let’s do that across the _whole_ castle—”

 

“—Muggles have trick-or-treating, maybe we could do something similar—”

 

“Pumpkin carving contest!”

 

“Or, a pumpkin growing contest—”

 

“—just have pumpkin everything!”

 

“Okay, okay, settle down please!” Rey cried. “Clearly, this is something you all would be interested in organizing, correct?” She was met with unanimous nods. “Wonderful! We heard some excellent ideas, but let’s go one at a time so we don’t miss any.”

 

“Trick-or-treating would be really cool, especially for the young ones!” A Fifth-Year prefect suggested. “Have the upper years hand out candy in different locations for the lower years. It’s really fun, I promise.”

 

“Hmm…” Ben scratched his chin, turning the idea in his mind. “That sounds quite promising. Perhaps we could even turn it into a treasure hunt, with a map to reveal where the candy pickup locations are.”

 

“Yes!” Rey exclaimed gleefully, her eyes dancing animatedly. “Halloween does fall on a Saturday this year, we could host a range of activities in the afternoon. Like all the pumpkin-related contests someone mentioned earlier—”

 

“Ah, don’t forget a pumpkin pie eating contest!”

 

Ben furrowed his brows. “That would be _disgusting_ —”

 

“—but _hilarious_ to watch!” Rey finished.

 

The room of prefects burst into a chorus of laughter as they continued to debate the merits and disadvantages of having teenagers eat pumpkin pie without utensils in a competitive manner.

 

It was a refreshing sight, watching the two Heads banter so lightheartedly in jest. To all the prefects, one thing was clear:

 

The Head Boy and Head Girl worked extremely well together—when they were willing to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the superbly talented [CartoonJessie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonJessie) for making this SENSATIONAL manip art for Unwritten Oaths!!! Just look at this masterpiece! Original Tumblr post [here](http://cartoonjessie.tumblr.com/post/177867459170/id-rather-be-dead-than-ever-stuck-in-a-room-with).
> 
> * * *
> 
> [[Tasseography](http://www.teausa.com/14531/reading-tea-leaves) is the art of tea leaf reading, one practice of divination, which is the subject of seeking knowledge of the future. Tea leaf symbols can have [many interpretations](https://www.thespruceeats.com/tasseography-tea-leaf-reading-symbols-765838).] 
> 
> Thank you to my incredible beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)), who turned this around in no time at all! Perhaps she has a Time-Turner...
> 
> And we finally finish up with September in Chapter 7! I apologize for how long this chapter took. I promise there are lots of fun in store for October. (RIP my original plans to complete this fic in 20 chapters…)
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
>  
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	8. Mimblewimble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben make a breakthrough regarding his magic, Quidditch practice, and a certain new character shows up when Rey and Ben study in the library together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Mimblewimble_ \- the Tongue-Tying Spell, which binds the target's tongue to keep him or her from talking about a specific subject.]
> 
> An early update because yesterday was my birthday, and it was the absolute BEST!!! Thank you all for your graciously endless love and support, I want to return it all to you <3 Hope you enjoy this chapter! (A lot of readers have told me that they didn’t receive a notification on AO3 (or in my Tumblr chapter update post) for my last chapter, so make sure to have read that in case you haven’t.)
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to T1mb3rf0xcr33k_Shyl03: _“There's no chance their tea leaves reading is in any way a foreshadowing of future events! Pffft who'd ever think something that crazy.....”_ (To that, I can only reply with a wink ;)
> 
> Thank you to the sensational SulaRae for making this gorgeous moodboard below! Original Tumblr post [here](https://sularae.tumblr.com/post/178055685567/mood-board-created-for-unwritten-oaths-a).

 

  


 

The morning October air felt delightfully crisp, the weather cold enough to prick Rey’s nerves awake, but still warm enough to go for a morning run.

 

With her lungs screeching for oxygen, she clambered up the final staircase back to the Head dormitories.

 

“Password, hmm?” The painting of Yoda stared down at her, a smirk stretched across his face.

 

“Canto Bight,” Rey whispered breathily. She crouched down, placing her hands on her knees, shoulders heaving with exhaustion.

 

Yoda’s green ears wagged back and forth. “Sure about that, you are, mhmm?”

 

“I—” Rey scrunched up her face in thought. She didn’t recall any recent changes to the dormitory password… unless Ben had just tweaked it? She would kill him if he did; it was currently seven o’clock, and she desperately needed more sleep. “I… think so?”

 

“Hehehehehe!” Yoda’s feet pattered on the floor depicted in the painting, loud cackles of glee escaping the confines of his chest. “More confident in your answer you need to be, Miss Johnson!” Rey’s mouth fell open as his portrait door freely swung open.

 

It was too early in the morning to face Yoda’s trolling antics, she concluded.

 

“Rey?”

 

She jerked her head upwards at the mention of her name to meet the confused gaze of Ben Solo, who stood in the center of the common room. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one who was awake at such an early hour. “What were you doing outside?”

 

“I was, uh, running.”

 

“... in the morning?” His mouth was rounded in a circular shape, cheeks hollowed out in astonishment.

 

“Yeah, the air’s really nice in the morning! And there’s no one else outside to bother you while running.”

 

“Huh…” Ben scratched the back of his neck. “That’s… quite smart actually. Avoiding people is always good.”

 

“It is—feel free to join me any morning.”

 

Ben snapped his eyes to her. A long beat of silence passed between them before Rey realized what she said. Did… did she really just offer that? Oh well, it was too late to take her words back…

 

“I… I might take you up on that offer. I really do need to exercise…”

 

Rey bobbed her head in a hesitant nod. “Sounds… sounds good. Just—just let me know when you’d like to run,” she stammered. Eager to change topic, she cast her gaze on the wand gripped tightly in his palm. “Why are you up so early?”

 

“Me?” asked Ben, surprised to be the one being questioned. “Uh… I was… practicing.”

 

“Oh.” She thought back to the last time she witnessed him practicing nonverbal magic in the common room… She shook the memories of that night out of her mind. “How’s it going?”

 

He exhaled loudly, which sufficiently answered Rey’s question in it of itself. “Not well.”

 

“It’s okay,” said Rey sympathetically, “we can’t always perform magic perfectly on our first try. I’m sure you’ll do better with more practice.”

 

“But more practice isn’t helping.” Ben tapped his wand against his thigh in frustration. “I just can’t seem to make… _any_ progress with nonverbal magic. Even the simplest stuff.”

 

Rey’s lips curved into a frown. “That’s unfortunate, but it happens. We all have weaknesses. For me, I can’t produce a Patronus at all, not even a small wisp of silvery smoke.”

 

“Maybe that’s because you haven’t found a memory sufficiently happy for it yet.”

 

Her eyes widened at the revelation. “That’s… quite possible, actually. I don’t think I’ve really thought about which of my memories is the happiest.” Then, a light flickered beneath her eyelids. “On a similar vein, perhaps there’s a mental block that’s making you resistant to performing nonverbal spells.”

 

Ben cocked an eyebrow at her. “A mental block?”

 

Rey flopped onto the sofa. “Sit down, let’s just talk for a bit.” She patted the seat next to her. “Relax, and take a deep breath.”

 

“Okay…” His gaze gleamed with confusion, but he obeyed her command, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

 

“Now, close your eyes. Pretend you’re about to do a nonverbal spell.”

 

“Any spell?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know…” The duel between them from their first Defense class floated to the front of Rey’s mind. “How about _Stupefy_?”

 

“... Alright.”

 

“What is pictured in your mind?”

 

“I’m visualizing myself stunning a target. The incantation _Stupefy_ is etched in my mind. Now I’m mentally directing the words at the target.”

 

“And how do you feel while performing it?”

 

“How do I… _feel_?”

 

“Yeah. What emotions are you experiencing in that moment?”

 

“I don’t know… Nervous? Hopeful? Scared?”

 

“Aha!” Ben’s eyelids snapped open at Rey’s sudden exclamation. “I bet that’s what is it!”

 

He straightened his back at her tone of excitement. “What?”

 

“You said _scared_. That’s not something you usually feel when you cast a spell, right?”

 

Understanding dawned on him. “No, it’s not.”

 

“Exactly. But when you’re about to perform this spell, and maybe all nonverbal spells, you’re scared.” Rey’s hazil pupils bore into his, large and curious. “We need to figure out why.”

 

Ben bobbed his head up and down. “That… makes sense. But I don’t know why.”

 

“Hmm.” She hummed in thought as her gaze raked over the Ravenclaw. “Perhaps we could continue what we were doing. Talk through your thoughts and emotions. Maybe there is something rooted in your subconscious.”

 

He leaned back on the sofa’s cushion, closing his eyes instantly.

 

“You’re back pointing your wand at a target—one of those stationary statues we use in dueling practice a lot. You’re speaking the incantation in your head, not aloud. Are you still feeling fear?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why are you scared?”

 

Ben bit his lower lip. “Er—I don’t know. I just… am.”

 

Rey frowned and rubbed her forehead. She needed to try something different. “Let’s say the target is… a red and white dartboard, so it can’t move. Are you still scared?”

 

“I don’t think so…?”

 

A memory stirred within her mind, unfurling a sudden revelation beneath her eyelids. “What if the target is a human?”

 

“Just a generic human?” Ben inquired. “I don’t think that changes anything from earlier with the statue…”

 

“No, let’s imagine you’re pointing your wand at your father.”

 

His eyes immediately flickered open, vacant and disbelieving. “I’m sorry, what?”

 

“You heard me, Solo.” Rey felt like she was close, the ripen fruits of discovery centimeters within her grasp. “Do the same thing, but the target is your father.”

 

Ben swallowed thickly, chin tremoring ever so slightly as he closed his eyes again. His posture was stiff—much stiffer than before, Rey noticed; he was no longer slouching, and his forehead was wrinkled with anguish. “Okay,” he uttered, his voice croaky.

 

“Now perform _Stupefy_ on him—nonverbally.”

 

“I can’t perform it on a bloody target, how can I perform it on him!” He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

 

She shook her head softly, brows pulling into a taut line. “You can!” replied Rey, impatience and frustration oozing through her tone. “It’s _exactly_ like performing it verbally, but you don’t say the actual words!”

 

“If I don’t say the words out loud, I’ll hurt him!”

 

“There you go.” Rey nodded to herself, her suspicions confirmed. “That’s why you can’t do it.” He snapped his eyelids open at her bold statement. “You’re _afraid_ of your own powers.”

 

He leaned forward, eyes wide and unblinking. “I’m… afraid. Of my _own_ magic?”

 

“Yes,” said Rey. “When you were eight, you had a magical outburst—”

 

“I really don’t want to talk about that right now.”  

 

“But that’s why you can’t perform nonverbal magic!” she blurted out, hands gesturing animatedly. “I think… when you speak the incantation aloud, you understand the limitations of the spell and inherently know that you can’t hurt anyone as long as you control it. But when you don’t say the spell out loud, you—”

 

“—don’t know the limitations and might hurt others,” Ben finished, “just like I did when I almost killed my father.”

 

“I wouldn’t have put it so… bluntly, but yes.”

 

A pensive expression crossed his face. “I…” he trailed off, cracking on the syllable. “Wow. I’ve never thought about that. I’ll practice more later with this in mind.”

 

“Memories from the past can change your whole life.” Dark shadows fell upon her, dancing across her honey-wheat orbs, before vanishing into fleeting nothingness. “And that’s okay. What’s important is to learn from it. Don’t let it seize your future.”

 

“That’s very wise of you to say.” His sharp gaze betrayed the depths of his curiosity and concern, but he knew it wasn’t the time or place to inquire. “Truly, Rey… Thank you for your help today.”

 

She blinked. “I… of course,” she stammered. Rey never expected him to thank her; especially not after her _disastrous_ experience trying to help him with nonverbal spell practice last time.

 

A deafening silence descended upon them, stretching to a long and hesitant battle as both Heads stayed rooted in their seats, yet struggled to speak.

 

“I need to go to class soon—”

 

“Do you want to—”

 

They both paused, waiting for the other to finish their interrupted thought. Finally, Ben broke the silence. “No, you can go first.”

 

“Uh, okay—” She inhaled deeply, lips parted in nervousness as Rey blurted out her question. “Do you want to work on our Defense project sometime? Since we haven’t started—”

 

“Sure.” Her head snapped up, almost hurting her neck, not expecting him to respond so quickly. “We can arrange to work in the library some time this week?”

 

“Sounds good,” she breathed out, her voice barely above a whisper.

 

Clearly, Ben Solo was an individual of many enigmas—a web of secrets that Rey had yet to unravel.

 

===

 

As with previous years, Herbology turned out to become Rey’s favorite class. Though the year started off rough with battling Venomous Tentaculas, they then studied Moondew, a beautiful silvery plant crucial to many potions and antidotes; it was also an ingredient in Madam Rosmerta’s Extra Sweet Butterbeer, so Professor Chewbacca took the class on a field trip to Hogsmeade, one that everyone enjoyed deeply. From Moondew they moved on to Chinese Chomping Cabbage, green melon-like plants that were fun to chase after when they spotted food to chomp on.

 

Arithmancy rivalled Herbology for the top rated class in her heart. Every lesson was a blast, mapping patterns among the numbers and symbols hidden within magic. There was not an exercise that Rey wasn’t fascinated with—the problem solving and decoding process was beautiful.

 

Defense Against the Dark Arts continued to blend hands-on magic with theoretical learning, though after the excitement of the first dueling lesson, none of the following lessons could live up to that level of thrill. Like Professor Skywalker, Professor Kanata was an eccentric individual—when she looked at Rey, the Slytherin swore that her professor could see the insides of her mind. But Divination was a really fun class filled with mysterious activities Rey always looked forward to—if she could disregard that cold, washed over feeling when Professor Kanata’s gaze raked over her.

 

Deep down in the dungeons, Potions remained her least favorite class. It was difficult to pay attention in the dungeons, the darkness of the classroom--combined with the warm haziness of the potions’ fumes—crafting the perfect environment for sleep. Something Professor Threepio mightily disapproved of. And that ease of falling into slumber during class meant that she often missed crucial pieces of knowledge.

 

Nonetheless, all five classes brought her contentment. She always craved for challenges, and ones of the intellectual kind stimulated her the most.

 

Rey only wished she was as happy with the _homework_ her classes brought as her classes themselves. She had always thought that Seventh Years of the past exaggerated their workloads to elevate their statuses as “legends” in the eyes of lowerclassmen—it turned out, their foreboding tales of never-ending research, papers, and projects were correct. Not to mention the looming presence of the N.E.W.T. exams...

 

She was also growing to dread the tedious hours spent patrolling corridors. Late night shifts were the worst; with drooping eyelids and sluggish footsteps, she trailed through the hallways with nobody but the tormenting slaps of the cold autumn winds accompanying her. It was only during these moments she silently cursed being Head Girl.

 

With the beginning of October, however, Rey had something else to occupy her time—something so enjoyable it more than made up for her unsatisfactory and overbearing workload. The Quidditch season was approaching, and Phasma called a Slytherin team meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss tactics for the new season.

 

There were seven main players on a Quidditch team: three Chasers, who scored goals by putting the Quaffle (a red, soccer-sized ball) through one of the three fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the field; two Beaters, who protected the team from Bludgers (two heavy black balls that zoomed around trying to attack the players) with heavy bats; a Keeper, who defended the goal posts; and the Seeker, who arguable had the most challenging job of all—catching the Golden Snitch, whose capture ended the game and earned the Seeker’s team an additional 150 points. Additionally, on the Slytherin team, there were five alternates to prepare for situations when a starting player was injured: two Chasers, one Beater, one Keeper, and one Seeker.

 

Gwen Phasma, exuding calmness and focus, turned to face the team. There was a stern coldness in her voice as she addressed her fellow eleven teammates in the locker room on the edge of the darkening Quidditch field.

 

“Welcome back to a new season of Quidditch,” she told them, striding in the front of the room. “Last season, we won the Quidditch Cup. We were the _champions_ .” Phasma paused her speech, allowing her last word to linger in the room. “The year before that, we lost in the finals. _To the bloody Gryffindors_ ,” she cursed under her breath. “And before that, we won the Cup again by beating Hufflepuff. So for Slytherin, that’s two out of the last three.”

 

“For some, including myself, this will be our last season. Our _last chance_ at winning the Quidditch Cup again.” She halted her footsteps, angling her chin higher. “So let’s not screw it up.”

 

“We won’t let you down, Captain!” Rey shouted, jaw set and eyes glowing brightly.

 

The platinum blonde-haired Slytherin stared at her, eyes blazing with furious pride. “Thank you, Johnson,” said Phasma, punching a fist into her other hand. “This year is our year—we will make it back-to-back for the great house of Slytherin! Now let’s go out onto the field and _kill it_ in practice today!”

 

And thus began the team’s grueling training sessions, two evenings and two mornings each week. Blood pumped with determination, the twelve teammates leaped off the ground and into the air, guiding their broomsticks through the chilly gusts of wind.

  


===

  


“Hey, can I sit here?”  


Ben lifted his head, long dark lashes peering over his thin-rimmed glasses to glance at Rey. She carried four tomes in her arms, each thicker than the next.

 

“Of course.” He pushed his reading glasses upward, shaking his head to clear his vision, blurred from staring at the miniscule font of his textbook for too long. “So have you started doing research for our D.A.D.A. paper?”

 

“Well…” Rey bit down on her lower lip nervously as she braced for Ben’s reaction. “I’ve skimmed some past scholarly research on the topic, but they’re just—” She threw up her hands. “—very dense to read.”  

 

To her relief, he nodded in agreement. “I find it strange that we have to write a research paper on the Jedi defenses against the Dark Arts in the last century. Don’t get me wrong, the history for this topic might be fascinating—but there’s a reason why I dropped History of Magic the moment I could…”

 

“Exactly!” exclaimed Rey, delighted. “Listening to the professor—who wasn’t even a real professor, just a _mere ghost_ —drone on and on did little to pique my interest in the subject.”

 

“And don’t forget the endless discussions about goblin wars,” Ben added with a chuckle.

 

She groaned. “Bloody hell, don’t remind me of those horrid lectures.” She flipped open one of the supplementary texts, eyes scanning the table of contents. “Strangely enough, Rose says one of her roommates loves History of Magic—always babbling about the divide between the Dark and the Light and all that.”

 

“Really? That’s… rare, I must say.”

 

“Mhmm, I don’t quite understand it either...” Rey’s voice trailed off, her gaze clouding over, drifting to a distance behind him. She instantly winced, a chilling spindle of regret tingling down her spine, as she looked up to meet the sharp gaze of the girl being discussed.

 

“Well, Johnson, the historical legacy of bloodlines is not one to be taken lightly.”

 

“Snoke,” Rey greeted the Gryffindor. “Nice seeing you here in the library.”

 

Arianna Snoke stood tall and straight, her frail figure towering over the pair of Heads in her golden robes adorned with scarlet letters. Behind her stood three more girls: Destiny Ritten, a quiet Ravenclaw whose eyes sheepishly darted to Ben’s face every other moment; next to her was Alba Stewart, a similarly shy yet thoughtful Slytherin donning pine green, thick-rimmed glasses that she too often misplaced; the last girl stood in stark contrast to the former two—always loud and boisterous, Calpurnia Bunisaurus wore a bright smile, unafraid to meet Rey and Ben’s gazes.

 

Snoke’s piercing cobalt eyes lasered on Rey, narrowed and sharpened. “Mhmm, nice seeing you too,” she responded, her tone indicating anything but.

 

Her gaze then shifted to Ben, warming considerably in the blink of an eye. “Ben Solo!” Snoke exclaimed with a sickly cheeriness. “I had no idea you were here, how are you doing?”

 

Ben blinked. “Um, fine, I guess…” His fingers carded through his hair uncomfortably, disconcerted by the attention Snoke and her friends diverted to him.

 

“What are you currently working on?” Snoke smoothly pulled out and slid into the empty chair next to him.

 

“We’re working on a research project on the Jedi defenses against the Dark Arts in the last century,” replied Ben.

 

“Oh, for Defense against the Dark Arts,” Snoke scoffed. Rey raised an eyebrow in surprise at Snoke’s condemnation for the course. “Personally, I don’t think there’s much purpose to that class. But I heard you’re the best in that class, of course—which is not surprising—”

 

“Uh—” A tinge of pink splashed his cheeks. “Thank you…? Rey’s also one of the best in the class—”

 

“Well, I have full faith you will do superbly on this project, Ben! Do let me know if you ever need help—I love history, and I do think there are aspects about the Jedi that many texts don’t mention,” whispered Snoke, a large smile plastered on her face. “I’ll see you around!”

 

“Er, thanks…?” His words trailed off as Snoke departed swiftly, her robe swishing behind her like a proud, billowing flag. The other three girls followed closely.

 

A long silence ensued, as both Ben and Rey glanced at each other, confusion apparent in their eyes.

 

“It’s like she didn’t notice I was even here,” Rey remarked. “I have a… suspicion that Snoke runs your fan club—”

 

Ben’s nostrils flared in disbelief. “Hold on,” he enunciated slowly, “did you just say _Snoke runs my fan club_ —”

 

“That’s just my theory,” clarified Rey.

 

His shoulders heaved downwards in relief. “Okay, good. I was scared for a moment there that I had a fan club, that would be really creepy—”

 

“Oh no,” she quickly corrected. “You _do_ have one.” Seeing Ben’s mouth fall open at her proclamation, she continued, “The three girls standing behind Snoke are definitely fangirls of yours. There’s quite a lot of them around the school, actually—”

 

“What!”

 

“—like when I sent you to the hospital wing from the duel, _loads_ of girls glared at me for _days_ —”

 

“Okay, I get it!” His wide brown eyes widened, the emotion flashing within akin to a wild animal thrashing in a cage. His grip on his quill tightened, so much so that the feathers crumpled in his fist, his nails digging crescent marks into his pale skin. “I… I had no idea...”

 

Rey’s heart swelled with sympathy for him. No seventeen-year-old should need to deal with a fan club, and Ben’s history and self-esteem struggles likely only made this more overwhelming. “Let’s… just go back to working on our paper, okay?” she asked, hoping to distract him.

 

He flashed her a little close-lipped smile, a single dimple present. “Yes, let’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @midnightbluefox for making these INSANELY GORGEOUS aesthetics for Unwritten Oaths!!! Look at the beautiful colors and photos, wow! Original Tumblr post [here](https://midnightbluefox.tumblr.com/post/177674943422/some-aesthetics-that-i-made-for-reylocalligraphy).
> 
> * * *
> 
> [More cameos in this chapter—in this chapter, Destiny Ritten is [Destinies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinies)'s character profile, Alba Stewart is [AlbaStarGazer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlbaStarGazer/pseuds/AlbaStarGazer)’s character profile, and Calpurnia Bunisaurus is [Bunilicious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunilicious)’s character profile!] 
> 
> [The Quidditch explanation was adapted from the Quidditch explanation in _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_.]
> 
> [If you go back to [Chapter 5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15610749/chapters/37804790), you now know who Rey and Rose were talking about!]
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com))!!!!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	9. Expecto Patronum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey hears back from the Ticos and goes on a morning run (with a certain someone). In DADA, they learn to cast Patronuses, something that she has always struggled with. Rey is dragged to Hogsmeade—where she stumbles into a certain someone once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Expecto Patronum_ \- the Patronus Charm, which provides protection against certain dark creatures in the form of an energy force.]
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to insanity_keeps_things_fun: _*Hisses at Snoke like a cat*_

_Dear Rey,_

_So wonderful to finally hear from you! It soothed our old hearts very much that you remembered to write us._

_Why, how rude of you to presume we were going to inquire about how much you’re eating! Just kidding. That was indeed our first question; we’re glad Beebee is there to glare at you in our places. Are you sleeping enough though?_

_We are confident that you are doing swimmingly as Head Girl! The first few weeks most definitely will be tough as an adjustment period, but we are sure you will handle them well. To deal with this Ben Solo, the two of us have very different suggestions that you may accept at your own risk:_

_ > From Chinh: Kick this boy’s ass if he ever crosses a line! You’re a kind, brilliant woman who should be respected at all times. _

_ > From Loan: Don’t listen to him—violence towards the poor boy is never the answer (though you are still free to kick this Ben if he does anything bad to you). However, I would recommend talking to him more. Perhaps he has insecurities or family stuff you aren’t aware of, or is simply shy talking to girls! Sometimes boys are like that—easily antagonizing girls they like or find attractive because they don’t know how to talk to them. Be thoughtful and careful, I’m sure you two will get along fine! Let us know if new issues arise. _

_We are doing well at home. Chinh recently discovered a new recipe for Shaking Beef that is really good; unfortunately, he nearly burnt down the house in his first try (I object to that! I did not burn down the house. Magic can put out fires quickly anyway). Oh, and Paige has recently been promoted at work!_

_Love,_

_Loan and Chinh_

  


Rey chuckled at the Ticos’ letter. Merlin, a _lot_ has changed since she mailed out her letter to them.

 

Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Tico had demonstrated her uncanny omniscience by hitting every point on the nail in her advice about talking to Ben. _Insecurities_ , check. _Family stuff Rey was unaware of_ , check. _Not knowing how to talk to girls they like or find attractive_ —wait. Not that one.

 

Not that one for _sure_.

 

(If her cheeks flushed the _slightest_ pink, well, no one else was there to witness it.)

  


===

  


Bending her arms and leaning to the side, Rey began her stretching routine, readying her body for her morning run.

 

This was going to be the first time she’d be running with Ben.

 

Her mind naturally wandered to their recent interactions, which have been quite cordial. It only took that first library meeting, and one more, for Rey and Ben to complete their Defense Against the Dark Arts paper. And, Rey would like to think, it was _quite_ an excellent essay—one worthy of an Outstanding, hopefully.

 

She switched arms and leaned towards the opposite side. It was just another regular run, but why did she feel so nervous about it?

 

Footsteps sounded, hollow and heavy, from his room towards the common room. She halted her stretching and snapped into standing position, turning to glimpse Ben’s nearing silhouette. “Morning.”

 

“Hey—” Ben choked on his greeting, cut off with a sharp crack of his voice. He lifted his head, eyes roving from her shoes up to her face. “What—what are you wearing?”

 

Her brows furrowed. “Just a sports bra and running shorts,” replied Rey. Then, her confusion transformed into concern, a wave of panic spreading in her already-nervous mind. She peered downwards to inspect her clothes. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing, right?”

 

“No—no, not at all!” he hurriedly exclaimed. “I was—er—just… I was…” Ben grasped for words, fumbling, as his eyes darted around the room to look at anything but her. “...worried! Yes—I was worried, that you might be cold.”

 

“Oh…” Her voice trailed off in an understanding manner. A quick, sweeping glance at the Head Boy revealed he wore a thin, long sleeve cotton shirt with a faded Ravenclaw emblem—one that hung to his body like a snug second skin—and loose sweatpants. It made sense for him to be concerned with her state of attire given their contrasting amount of clothing. “Don’t worry, I’m used to running in this.”

 

“Right. Um, okay. Sorry.”

 

A nervous laugh tittered from her lips. “Let’s just get going, shall we?”

  


===

  


It wasn’t until they began to jog did Rey realize a glaring issue:

 

Ben was tall.

 

_Really tall._

 

Much taller than her, which meant his legs were longer than hers. For every stride he took, she needed to take two steps.

 

Despite that, they gradually fell into a steady pace, step matching step. She didn’t know if that meant she was running harder, if he was purposefully slowing down for her, or if this genuinely was both of their suitable paces.

 

They jogged in a quiet tranquility, accompanied only by the soft _crunch_ of dried leaves snapping underneath their heels. The sun began to emerge, the tips of its golden rays peeking from their hiding spot to illuminate the azure morning sky.

 

A little less than halfway around the lake, Rey spoke. “Do you exercise regularly? You seem to be keeping up well.”

 

He glanced at her, surprised she was trying to make conversation with him. “Not… real exercise,” he mumbled. At her confused gaze, he proceeded to explain. “I don’t run or anything, I like to practice dueling by myself and that’s essentially my exercise.”

 

“Oh…” Her eyes glinted with curiosity. “Where do you practice?” Sure, Hogwarts was a massive castle, but it didn’t provide for many private spaces. Certainly not spaces adequately set up for dueling training.

 

“Um…” Ben stared straight ahead, ruminating over whether he should reveal his secret to Rey. “The Room of Requirement.”

 

“The _what?”_ asked Rey, shocked.“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”

 

“I’m not surprised, not many students have.”

 

“Where is it?”

 

At this, he clamped his mouth shut.

 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

 

“No,” replied Ben instantly. “I’m okay with telling you… It’s just— _hard_ to explain where the Room is…”

 

“Okay…” She trailed off, ending her onslaught of inquiries about the mysterious training room. Rey and Ben turned a corner, whisking past a row of tall trees, their foliage trembling excitedly. A soft earthy scent, mixed with the sweet aroma of pine, filled her nose. “So you don’t play Quidditch? Or fly?”

 

He choked on an intake of breath, sputtering in a coughing fit as he halted running. Rey stopped alongside him, a watery sheen of concern glossing over her hazel pupils.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t… know that was a… _sensitive_ question—”

 

“No—no—it wasn’t. I was… merely taken by surprise.” Ben inhaled deeply, before resuming his long, jogging strides. “I can fly. I actually don’t… dislike flying.”

 

 _Not disliking flying means you like it,_ Rey thought to herself. “Then why don’t you play Quidditch? I’ve never seen you play or try out, not even for fun.”

 

“You know of my father, Han Solo.”

 

“The former Quidditch star? Yes.” She furrowed her brows, unable to predict where his line of thought was going.

 

He nodded. “Right, and before he played professionally, he was also a Quidditch star at Hogwarts. He won the last three House Cups and held numerous individual scoring records.” He frowned in thought. “There’s probably loads of his awards still in the Trophy Room.”

 

“And you don’t want his legacy to overshadow yours.”

 

Ben glanced at her sharply. His eyes were wide, glimmering intensely with an emotion Rey could not decipher. “Yes. If I had started playing Quidditch here, there would be no doubt people would have started comparing me to him.”

 

“I understand, Ben. Thank you for telling me.” She sent him a warm grin—a quick flash of her dimples, but he caught it nonetheless. “But I want to see you on a broom one day.”

 

“That’s not happening.”

 

“Oh, is that a challenge?” Rey smirked. “It’s on, Solo. I’m going to get you to fly with me sometime this school year.”

 

“ _Not_ _happening_ , Johnson.”

  


===

  


“Did you see the flyers posted on the announcements bulletin this morning?” asked Rose excitedly.

 

Finn shook his head, pausing his buttering of toast. “I haven’t checked it yet, what’s new?”

 

“This weekend is going to be a Hogsmeade weekend!” The Gryffindor exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight.

 

“Oh, that’s fantastic,” Finn chimed in animatedly. “It’s been _ages_ since I’ve been to Zonko’s!”

 

Rose suddenly turned to her side, facing him. “Finn Storm,” she proclaimed, voice tender and hopeful, “will you go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday?”

 

He beamed at his girlfriend. “I would be _honored_ , Rose Tico.” At his acceptance, she squealed with joy, and the couple leaned in for a quick peck of their lips.

 

“You two are too bloody adorable,” Rey grumbled in jest from across the table, focused on shoveling more scrambled eggs into her mouth. “It’s much too early in the morning for this.”

 

“You’re just saying that because you’re single,” Rose remarked offhandedly. “We need to find you a boyfriend, Rey.”

 

The Head Girl’s eyes bulged out of her skull. “No, please, no! I definitely don’t need one…”

 

“She’s just kidding,” Finn butted in, before her devious matchmaking girlfriend could edge in another word. “Rey, you’re also free to join us this weekend at Hogsmeade, of course.” Rose bobbed her head, eagerly anticipating Rey’s response.

 

“Thank you, I’ll think about it,” said Rey sincerely. She would need to consider their offer—on one hand, she loved spending time with her best friends; on the other hand, did she _really_ want to spend a whole day as the inevitable third wheel?

 

She did what she always did when faced with a difficult dilemma:

 

Eat more food.

  


===

  


“Could someone please tell me what a Patronus is?”

 

Rey’s hand shot into the air. Seeing Professor Skywalker’s curt nod at her, she proceeded to speak. “A Patronus is a partially-tangible positive energy force used to defend against creatures like Dementors and Lethifolds.”

 

“Indeed—ten points to Slytherin, Ms. Johnson. And does anyone know what it looks like?”

 

“A Patronus can take two forms, corporeal and incorporeal,” Phasma calmly answered upon receiving the professor’s approval. “A corporeal Patronus looks like a fully-formed, bright white animal, while an incorporeal Patronus resembles a burst of vapour or smoke without any clearly defined form.”

 

“Well done, Ms. Phasma. Another ten points for Slytherin.” He paced to the front of his room, peering out at the sea of curious young faces. “The Patronus Charm is an incredibly tricky defensive spell. In fact, for a long time it was beyond the N.E.W.T. curriculum, considered too difficult for teenagers to learn. But that was proven wrong.”

 

“To cast it, one must muster a happy memory—the happier, the _better_. Its incantation is _Expecto Patronum._ ”

 

The professor brandished his wand. “Expecto Patronum!” he bellowed.

 

Out of the end of his wand burst a blinding, dazzling, silver bird—a phoenix, to be exact. Phoenixes were powerful, mysterious magical beings, but always appeared when needed most— quite fitting for Professor Skywalker. The class ooh’d and aah’d at the spectacular display of light as the free-spirited creature flapped its long wings around the classroom, weaving between the students, before finally vanishing into nothingness.

 

“It is very rare to succeed in casting a full, corporeal Patronus on your first try. Most people end up with a wisp of silver smoke,” stated Professor Skywalker. Rey nodded; she had tried casting a Patronus for fun in her own time, but never had succeeded past the silvery, vapour-like wisps.

 

“Now, stand up—let’s all try this!”

 

Rey stood up, swallowing nervously. Standing near her, Rose flashed her an encouraging grin.

 

“Think of a happy memory. Better yet, think of your _happiest_ memory.”

 

Flashes of memories sped through Rey’s mind like the wings of a hummingbird as she frantically searched for the happiest one. _Running away from Plutt… Soaring above the Quidditch pitch… Tasting ice cream for the first time…_

 

“Then, draw circles with your wand, like this… and say _Expecto Patronum_!”

 

“ _Expecto Patronum!”_ A chorus of cries sounded.

 

A puff of silver vapour shot out of the tip of Rey’s wand. A shadow of disappointment flashed across her face, crestfallen at yet another failed attempt. Her friends fared no better; Phasma saw a shapeless cloud of white mist, while Finn and Rose both experienced only feeble wisps of silver smoke issued from their wands.

 

Ben, on the other hand, came the closest from achieving a full-fledge Patronus. An enormous cloud of light erupted from the end of his wand—a solid, translucent ball of silvery-white that was beginning to take a distinctive shape.

 

“Bravo, Solo!” exclaimed Rose. “You’re almost there.”

 

His face screwed up in concentration as he repeated the charm. This time, a majestic horse burst forth from his wand tip and galloped the length of the classroom. His face broke into a wide smile, basking in the silver glow of the beautiful creature, before the Patronus dissolved into mist.

 

“A dapple grey stallion,” Professor Skywalker remarked. Rey wondered what characteristics of the animal were reflected in Ben so that it was his guardian spirit, but the professor didn’t seem to be forthcoming. “Well done, Mr. Solo.”

 

Eager to match Ben’s display of magical prowess, Rey and her friends returned to their Patronuses.

 

Finn was the first to succeed, a small terrier erupting from his wand. His eyes widened in surprise as the terrier leaped onto him, making him trip and fall backwards onto the floor.

 

Rose followed suit, a shining silver otter gambolling around her. “It’s practically tickling me!” she giggled.

 

The silhouette of a fox shot out of the end of Phasma’s wand. A few more tries later and the fox was a solid shape of silvery-white, prancing energetically around the classroom.

 

“I—still—can’t—do—it!” Rey growled angrily. She watched yet another feeble silver wisp drift from the tip of her wand into thin air.

 

“You’ve got to think of something happy,” Finn reminded her.

 

“I’m _trying_ ,” gritted Rey miserably. She was trying so hard, her hairline was actually shining with sweat.

 

Alas, success still did not come to her by the end of the class.

 

“Homework, due next Friday—with your partner, write a paper comparing Boggarts and Patronuses—both fascinating magical manifestations of emotions. And please keep practicing your Patronuses!”

  


===

  


Rey considered skipping Hogsmeade altogether to continue practicing her Patronus. Her inner Slytherin spirit craved success, the glory of finally casting a fully-formed Patronus, and was thus deeply irked by her continuous string of failures.

 

Her best friends, however, had other plans.

 

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!” Rose flung open the thick, velvet shades. The dazzlingly bright Saturday morning sun peeked into the room, slamming Rey with unwelcome light.

 

Her eyelids snapped open to the hazy, floating faces of Rose and Finn peering down at her.

 

“Good morning, get your butt up so we can go to Hogsmeade,” greeted Rose cheerfully.

 

“How—how did you two get in here? I never told either of you the password—”

 

“Never mind that,” Finn hastily interrupted. “You need to get dressed and eat breakfast, so we can get _going_.”

 

“No,” Rey groaned. “I was planning on staying in today to practice the Patronus charm.”

 

Finn frowned. “See, I knew this would happen,” Rose told the Hufflepuff, before turning her attention back to the Head Girl. “Well, too bad for you, I took your wand and hid it.”

 

“WHAT? _ROSE!_ ”

 

Rey scrambled out of bed, fuming, as she searched for her wand. True to Rose’s word, her wand was missing.

 

“Rey,” Finn sighed, “I promise you, you are not going to win against a devious Rose Tico. Just get up and come with us.”

 

An hour later, Rey found herself standing in the center of Hogsmeade Village, wrapped in a navy blue peacoat and green-and-silver Slytherin scarf to warm herself from the chilling October winds. She silently grumbled to herself, recalling the toasty blankets and soft mattress that Finn and Rose had forced her out of.

 

Speaking of those two devils, Rey was contemplating the possibility of finding new best friends despite being a Seventh Year. And where were they, exactly? Hadn’t they been standing right beside Rey just a moment ago? She certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they had scurried off for a long snog…

 

What was she going to do now?

 

Rey’s original plan had been to tail after Finn and Rose—but now that they had disappeared to who-knows-where, that plan wasn’t really feasible anymore, was it? Honeydukes, perhaps? She could always use more Sugar Quills. Oh, don’t forget Treacle Fudge. And Chocolate Frogs…

 

_Yes, Honeydukes it is._

 

Five minutes later, she stood in the thankfully-heated candy shop, scouring the shelves for her desired items. Yet the range of candies, no matter how enticing, still could not ameliorate the wave of irritation towards her best friends.

 

“Scowling’s not a good look on you, Johnson.”

 

She whipped around, the end of her scarf slapping her cheek, to meet the familiar face of the one-and-only Ben Solo. Amidst the explosion of color inside Honeydukes, lime green shelves lined with bubblegum pink lettering, his complexion seemed _unusually_ pale, the small freckles and beauty marks which dotted his face contrasting greatly.

 

“It is, when your friends _literally drag you out of bed_ but abandon you to do more couple-y stuff.”

 

“Ah, that explains a lot,” said Ben with a chuckle. “I was  _quite_ surprised to see you out of bed on a Saturday before nine…”

 

“I’m still the same morning grouch, Solo, don’t test me.”

 

The corner of his lip stretched into a crooked smirk. “Alright… What are you looking at?”

 

“Just some Sugar Quills.” She glanced at the two clutched in her palm, both sapphire blue. “Actually, that’s probably all I’m going to get.”

 

“Cool, I’m about done too.”

 

As they queued for the cashier, Rey peered into his basket. It was filled to the brim with Pumpkin Pasties. “Whoa, are you selling them at school or something?” she questioned, eyes growing wide with incredulity.

 

“No! Of course not, I’m just stocking up on them.”

 

“What are you, a squirrel preparing for hibernation?”

 

“At least I won’t get diabetes with my choice of snack, unlike _yours_ —”

 

“Next!” The cashier called out, interrupting their argument. Rey stepped forward first, delicately laying her two precious Sugar Quills on the counter.

 

“That would be ten Sickles and four Knuts please,” informed the cashier, a young, cheerful woman donning a wavy pixie cut. Glimpsing Rey’s scarf, she grinned. “Ah, I see you’re a Slytherin, the most superior house! I was one too.”

 

“Yes! I knew there was a reason I immediately took a liking to you.” Rey grinned back. “It’s always a good day meeting Slytherin alums.”

 

“Likewise!” The cashier watched Rey carefully count out coins, before her lips parted to speak. “You two are a cute couple.”

 

Rey instantly dropped all of the coins onto the counter in a cacophony of metallic _clank_ s. _“What?”_

 

“You, and the guy behind you! You two are really cute together—”

 

At this, Ben jerked his head up to gaze at the cashier. “Oh no—no. We’re not… a couple.”

 

“Yeah, we’re not together. Not at _all_ ,” Rey added with emphasis.

 

He bobbed his head so quickly he nearly hurt his neck. “Both very single here. With all due respect, ma’am, you’re mistaken.”

 

The cashier blinked at the rapid onslaught of denials the pair threw at her. “Oh... Okay. I’m sorry—I just thought… Never mind.” She shook her head, returning her focus to her job.

 

Standing a few feet behind Ben in the queue, a Gryffindor Seventh-Year smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile; rather, it gleamed with vindictive measure, a hint of plotting that shone as brightly as the sequins on her golden robe.

 

“You won’t stay single for _long_ ,” Snoke whispered quietly to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
> 
> 
> A huge thank you to [@vaader](vaader.tumblr.com) ([resplendently](https://archiveofourown.org/users/resplendently/pseuds/resplendently)) for creating these sensational gif graphics!! So cool, so amazing, I can only gape in awe. Original Tumblr post [here](http://vaader.tumblr.com/post/177805096777/unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy-id-rather).
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Cameo alert: the lovely cashier is my wonderful beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com))! Thank you for everything, including your major help on this chapter.]
> 
> As 2018 comes to a close, it is crazy to look back and see that I’ve written 75K+ words since I started writing Reylo fic in July. Thank you all for your graciously kind support. Here’s to 2019 (Year of Reylo!!) and happy New Year!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	10. Riddikulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben confront a boggart. Snoke dives in between the two with a grand master plan. Rey plays her first Quidditch match of the season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Riddikulus_ \- to banish a boggart]
> 
>  **Please read the tags**. One of them is finally enacted in this chapter. Feel free to message me or leave a comment if you have any questions before reading. 
> 
> Many, many thanks to [qalupalik](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com/post/180698323703/qalupalik-fic-posters-3-unwritten-oaths), [bunilicious](http://bunilicious.tumblr.com/post/177807345447/two-moodboards-in-the-form-of-book-covers-for), [wewantreylo](https://wewantreylo.tumblr.com/post/178071253122/unwritten-oaths-by-reylocalligraphy-chapter-4), [atchamberlin](https://atchamberlin.tumblr.com/post/178682525239/unwritten-oaths-by-the-very-talented), and [lilyevansreyjakuu](https://lilyevansreyjakuu.tumblr.com/post/179295127004/inspired-by-the-fanfiction-unwritten-oaths-by) for creating these amazing gifsets and aesthetics for Unwritten Oaths!
> 
> I'm sorry for how long this chapter took. For reasons you'll soon see, this chapter was difficult for me to write. I still don't like it completely, but I hope you enjoy it! I've also was writing my RFFA fic, a canonverse oneshot of Rey and Ben traveling across the galaxy ([link here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17074910)).
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to murakamism: _“Rey third wheels and eats her feelings in response? Is this not canon?”_

“So why’s it called the Room of Requirement?”

 

“Because it is a room that a person can only enter,” explained Ben, “when they have real need of it. It’s also called the Come and Go Room, because people come and go in using the room.”

 

“How many people know of it?” asked Rey.

 

“Very few, I expect. I think many people have stumbled into it when they need it, but few are able to find it again.” His lips stretched into a nostalgic smile. “Thankfully, my dad was a rebel in his days of Hogwarts and passed on his secrets, this room included.”

 

They made their way along the seventh floor, stopping every few metres to glance around warily, before scurrying along the corridor to a stretch of blank wall opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Boba the Barmyʹs foolish attempt to train droids for the ballet.

 

“Okay, here we are,” said Ben with a flourish of pride.

 

Rey blinked. “This is just a… wall.”

 

“You need to walk past this wall three times and concentrate hard on what you need.”

 

She whirled to face him, her robe billowing around her. “Are you serious?”

 

“Just give it a try.”

 

Still skeptical, Rey closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She felt like she was eleven again, recklessly dashing into the brick wall of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. Opening her eyes, she nervously strolled past the stretch of blank wall, fists clenched as she stared ahead.

 

_We need somewhere to study for Defense Against the Dark Arts… A place to work on our essay with no one disturbing us…  where no one can find us…_

 

“Now look.”

 

Rey wheeled around, eyes widening at the sight before her.

 

The wall was no longer blank. A highly polished door had appeared in its center. She stretched out her arm, twisting the brass handle and pulling the door open.

 

A spacious room awaited them, brightly lit with flickering stone torches. The walls were lined with wooden bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling. A table was placed in between two burgundy sofas, blank parchment and fresh ink lying atop.  

 

“Look at these books!” said Rey excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather‐bound tomes. “ _A Compendium of Dark Creatures_ … _Boggarts, Breaches, and Banshees_ … _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_ … Wow.”

 

Ben followed her, turning the key protruding from the lock. He was in a similar state, _spellbound_ by the presence of hundreds of books. Soon he began to slide books off from the shelves, the stack of tomes in his arms quickly growing.

 

“It’s too bad we can’t practice against an actual boggart here,” Ben commented. “Our essay needs to focus on ‘manifestations of emotion,’ and the best way to explore that is to actually—”

 

A wooden wardrobe emerged in the center of the room.

 

“—experiment with a real one...” mumbled Ben, staring at the wardrobe in awe.

 

“Why’d you ask the room for that?” said Rey, puzzled. “Do you need to hang up your robe?”

 

The wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall with a noisy _crack_.

 

“I think… there’s a boggart in there,” he breathed out. “This room is amazing.” Ben turned his gaze to meet Rey’s look of horror. “Do you want to go first?”

 

She eyed the wardrobe’s rattling doorknob apprehensively. Boggarts were sentient Dark creatures that took the form of whatever most frightened the wizard or witch. “I… uh—I’ve never practiced against a real boggart before, just the incantation.”

 

“That’s okay, you can try right now.”

 

Rey shook her head furiously. “No, no. There’s no need—”

 

“But there is—think of how it will help our assignment—”

 

She had _zero_ intention or desire of facing her greatest fear, scholarly pursuit be damned. There was a reason Rey wasn’t in Gryffindor—she wasn’t one for foolishly taking risks without sufficient knowledge of what would happen. “No, I’ll pass on this. You can confront it, I’ll watch and—uh—take notes.”

 

“Alright, I’ll face it myself then.” Ben shrugged. “Do you know what your greatest fear is?”

 

Rey scrunched up her face in thought. She’d never asked herself that before. The rats that she was forced to share living space with on the dirty, grey pavements when she was a child? “I don’t know for sure,” she replied with a hard swallow, “but I don’t like being forced into situations I can’t get out of.” _Being kidnapped. Enslaved. Abandoned._ _Publicly humiliated._

 

“That’s fair,” Ben said with an earnest nod. “That’s one of my fears too. Especially if it’s a public confrontation—then, I really can’t defend myself or my own interests.”

 

“Is that your biggest fear?”

 

He shook his head. “No, it’s—well, you’ll see. It’s hard to explain.”

 

The wardrobe wobbled even more violently. Ben walked forward with his wand outstretched, shooting a jet of sparks toward its doorknob with a murmured incantation. The wardrobe burst open.

 

A tall man donning a faded brown leather jacket stepped out, his eyes flashing at his son.

 

 _“Han Solo,”_ Rey breathed out.

 

Except it wasn’t actually Han—the Han that just walked out looked ten years younger than the Han Solo Rey remember seeing in the _Quibbler_ magazine recently. Boggart-Han’s face was unmarred with wrinkles, yet his body moved with a sense of exhaustion and—anger?

 

“You nearly killed me,” Boggart-Han snapped.

 

Rey sharply inhaled; of course Ben’s greatest fear was the memory and guilt of his magical accident and almost killing his father. She stared at his figure in simultaneous horror and awe, curiosity washing over her as she wondered how the magic of a boggart could pinpoint Ben’s fear so accurately.

 

“You’re a disappointment to this whole family,” Boggart-Han continued, “ _always_ a disappointment, and now practically a murd—”

 

 _"Riddikulus!"_ shouted Ben with clenched teeth. There was a noise like a whip crack. Boggart-Han transformed into a gigantic jack-in-a-box, a cheerful clown popping out of the box.

 

“Well done!” Rey exclaimed. The most effective method to repel a boggart was laughter—forcing the boggart to assume a shape that one found funny or amusing, and Ben had succeeded.

 

“Thank you,” he replied quietly with a weak grin.

 

If Ben was hiding the remnant after-effects of confronting the boggart, he was hiding them well, because Rey didn’t notice them. Ben’s experience had piqued her curiosity and lit a fire in her competitive Slytherin nature. Now she knew what to expect, Rey was no longer afraid.

 

“Can I go?”

 

Ben wheeled around in surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to do it, since you’ve never faced one before—”

 

“I know, but I’m confident I can tackle it.”

 

The jack-in-a-box shifted into a hazy darkness as Rey stepped forward, before blooming into the familiar faces of the Tico family. Mr. Tico and Mrs. Tico stood shoulder-to-shoulder, hands clasped together, while Rose and Paige flanked their sides.

 

She furrowed her brows; why would her greatest fear be the Ticos? Perhaps the boggart wasn’t working right for her…

 

“We don’t love you,” Boggart-Paige stated solemnly.

 

The blood in Rey’s veins froze—a cold so penetrating she felt as if she were drowning… drowning in the voices that echoed in her head, the voices she had spent many years trying to ignore.

 

“We just took you in because we _pitied_ you,” shrieked Boggart-Mrs. Tico. She laughed a high-pitched, out-of-control sound. “After all, who would possibly  _love_ a homeless girl like you, abandoned by your parents, sold as a slave?”

 

Rey could barely hear Ben’s frantic shouts over the hammering of her heart. Her throat closed up with fear, tendrils of doubt creeping and tightening in her mind.

 

“You’re nothing but a disappointment,” added Mr. Tico.

 

Boggart-Rose’s lips pulled into a sneer. “Did you think I was ever _your_ actual friend, Rey?”

 

Finally, Ben’s shouts broke through. “Rey, they’re _not_ _real!”_

 

She snapped back to reality, wiping the voices and doubts out of her mind. _"R—Riddikulus!"_ she stammered. In the Ticos’ place stood a family of rabbits, their hazel fur gleaming as they hopped around the room. Ben ushered them into the wardrobe, vanishing the wardrobe entirely with a flourish of his wand.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked with concern, his words soft, barely above a whisper.

 

Rey sniffed and nodded, blinking rapidly. She sunk into a sofa, cradling her face in her hands. She was shaking, but not from cold.

 

The Ticos have been the only thing _close_ to resembling a family Rey had ever experienced. Watching them—well, a fraudulent version of them—say those heartbreaking words to her brought about a violent tsunami of distrust and fear she had spent many years taming.

 

When had her eyes become wet?

 

“I’m sorry, I’m a blubbering mess right now,” she apologized with a sniffle. “I… I wasn’t expecting that.”

 

Ben shook his head. “No, don’t apologize—boggarts are Dark creatures for a reason. They can really twist your mind like that.”

 

“You seem fine though,” remarked Rey.

 

“I’m really not. I can just… _hide_ it better, I guess,” Ben said with a uncomfortable shiver, “because that memory has haunted me since the _day_ it happened.”

 

“Why couldn’t we be like normal people?” Rey sighed. “ _Normal_ people with _normal_ fears like spiders or vampires. Not complicated backstories involving emotional trauma and whatnot.”

 

“With how our lives have played out, there’s no way either of us could have turned out normal,” said Ben with a feeble laugh. He flopped backwards onto the other sofa, looking as shaken as she was. “You’re scared of disappointing the Ticos, that you’re unworthy of deserving their love. I’m scared of disappointing my father and my family again. Both of our fears come from a messed up childhood.”

 

 _That’s… remarkably accurate_ , Rey realized. They both feared being a letdown to their families. Perhaps they were more alike than Rey ever imagined.

 

A bubble of warmth rose within her, the knowledge of Rey not being the only person to suffer from such fears draping her in a blanket of comfort.

  


===

  


“Today’s Friday—if we don’t hurry, there’s going to be a huge crowd queueing to get in the Great Hall again,” hissed Rose.

 

“Didn’t you just have breakfast before this class? Why the need to hurry?” asked Finn quizzically.

 

“I didn’t… I slept in instead,” Rose groaned, “because Arianna and her friends were in our room, chattering away into the night.”

 

“Arianna?” Rey lifted her head to stare at her friend. “As in Arianna Snoke?”

 

“Yep, that Arianna.”

 

“I think she sits in the back of Arithmancy,” added Finn.

 

“She does, but I don’t think she talks much in class… Oh no, look at everyone leaving—they’re probably gonna beat us all to the Great Hall. Let’s _go_ already!”

 

Not wanting to anger the little-but-fierce Gryffindor, Finn and Rey hastily shoved their Arithmancy notes into their knapsacks. The trio flew through the corridors, pausing every few feet by empty stretches stone walls to avoid distraught students rushing late to their next class.

 

They slithered past the growing crowd gathering by the entrance of the Great Hall like hidden serpents lurking in the darkest of meadows. As Rose had predicted, the dining hall was jam-packed.

 

“The Gryffindor table’s full,” she whined in dismay, “and looks like Hufflepuff’s is too.”

 

At last, they spotted a trio of empty seats at the Slytherin table, on the other side of the Great Hall.

 

“Let’s never do that again,” Finn breathed out, relieved at finding seats. Rose nodded eagerly, her mouth too stuffed with food to voice her agreement.

 

“So what were Snoke and her friends talking about?” asked Rey, continuing their conversation from earlier. Her curiosity about Snoke gnawed at her.

 

“I don’t know,” said Rose. She tilted her head in thought. “Actually, it kind of seemed like they were… plotting.”

 

“ _Plotting_?” Finn repeated incredulously. “What could they possibly be plotting?”

 

“Merlin knows… They were talking in super hushed tones. Probably some wacky history stuff again, actually,” replied Rose. “That girl is weirdly obsessed with History of Magic.”

 

“Oh yeah.” Rey’s eyes lit up, recalling the library incident. “Speaking of history, did I tell you about the time Snoke came up to me in the library?”

 

“No! Spill, what happened?”

 

“Ben Solo and I were discussing our Defense paper, and Snoke butted in out of nowhere”—at this, Rey gestures her arm dramatically—“to talk about how the ‘legacy of bloodlines is not one to be taken lightly’ or something like that.”

 

“Oh…” Rose’s voice trailed off in understanding. “You were with Solo, that makes sense. Arianna is obsessed with him and his family. She’s just really interested in the longstanding bloodlines.”

 

“No kidding. She was fawning all _over_ him, like I wasn’t even there—and don’t forget her fan club—”

 

“Bloody yes, she’s very involved in his fan club.”

 

“—they behave like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons, trampling everywhere and following her like a pack of wolves—”

 

“Did you sleep well last night?” Finn interrupted her passionate diatribe, raising an eyebrow at her. It was uncharacteristic of Rey to badmouth others so ardently.

 

Rey snapped out of her earnest rant. “Uh, sorry… I got carried away there, didn’t I? I slept really well,” she replied bashfully as she fervently dug into a sumptuous steak-and-kidney pudding.

 

“That’s good to hear,” said Finn. “How are you feeling about your game tomorrow?”

 

“Right, Quidditch starts tomorrow!” Rose exclaimed. “Who’s your match against?”

 

“Ravenclaw,” answered Rey. “I… have mixed feelings, actually. Ravenclaw is a formidable opponent, and our team has been going through ups and downs in practice lately. Some days, we’re fantastic; others, a lot less so.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll be great,” cheered Finn, always a bright beacon of optimism.

 

“Yeah, who’s the best Chaser in the school?” Rose chimed in, prodding the back of her fork at Rey’s arm. “You are!”

 

Rey flushed, a splash of pink spreading alight. Her chest squeezed with love for her friends, joyous emotions bubbling to its surface. “Thanks guys, I appreciate it.”

 

“The Ravenclaw team can’t compare to you guys,” Finn stated. “You’re _you._ Phasma’s a sensational Beater—don’t tell her I said that though—and the rest of your team is really solid.”

 

“Roberta Davies is a really good Seeker though,” commented Rey, “but you’re right. Our team _is_ excellent. During practice yesterday, Phasma—”

 

“Sorry to interrupt, but look,” Rose spoke in a murmur. Finn and Rey glanced at where she pointed, eyes widening. “Speaking of the devil.”

 

Always one to push the limits of the school’s dress code, Arianna Snoke strolled into the Great Hall, donning a tailored black Gryffindor robe customized with embroidered, golden swirls lining the sleeves and hems and matching golden pointed shoes, her chin held high and eyes fiercely scanning the room.

 

In her arms lay a humongous bouquet of flowers— _one as enormous as Beebee the House-Elf’s body_ , Rey thought. Bright, scarlet daffodils, indigo larkspurs, orange peonies, dark pink snapdragons…  Flowers of _every_ color imaginable resided in that bouquet, clashing and battling for attention.

 

It was the ugliest thing Rey had ever seen. And Rey usually _loved_ plants.

 

The chattering students quieted at the unusual sight. They parted way for the Seventh Year to glide through the aisles with ease, her heels echoing with a resonant _clack_ each step into the marble floor.

 

“Where do you think she’s going with that… monstrosity?” whispered Finn. Rey merely shrugged, similarly puzzled.

 

Rose’s eyes darted around the hall. “I—I think she’s heading to the Ravenclaw table…”

 

Rey turned her head to follow her friend’s gaze. “Oh no,” she let out a gasp of horror when recognition dawned. “She’s going after… him.”

 

“... _him_?” Finn questioned, before his jaw slackened. “Oh.”

 

_She’s going after Ben._

 

Snoke took long, patient strides towards Ben, who was unaware of her intentions. Finally— _finally—_ when she slowed to a stop, mere inches away from where he sat at the Ravenclaw table, did he realize that _he_ was the target of her advances.

 

“Snoke,” greeted Ben meekly, a polite facade washing over his grimace and clenched jaw, “er, how has your day been?”

 

“My day has been _wonderful_ , thank you for asking,” Snoke grinned sweetly. She thrusted the massive bouquet into his arms, knocking over goblets of pumpkin juice left and right.

 

“Oh—uh—” stammered Ben, too flustered to speak. He brushed the sharp thorns of some flowers’ stems away from his face, causing even more goblets to tip over in the process. “Thank you? What—”

 

“Ben Solo, my dear,” Snoke started, each word icy and sharp, yet slow and precise. “Will you do me the _grand_ honor… of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

 

The Great Hall fell in a deafening silence; not a clink of a fork, nor a swallow of bread could be heard. And Rey knew why: at Hogwarts, asking someone to Hogsmeade was not a lighthearted action; it was a heavy commitment—a loaded question of asking one out with much implication for the future of the two individuals’ relationship.

 

Eager for gossip, the entire hall of students awaited his response, eyes fiercely trained on the Head Boy. Since the Slytherin table stood adjacent to the Ravenclaw table, Rey had a clear view of everything—including Ben, sitting _paralyzed_ in his chair, and the familiar twitch of his eye that only happened when he felt nervous or scared.

 

Suddenly, she remembered their conversation from their boggart project session.

 

_“I don’t know for sure,” she replied with a hard swallow, “but I don’t like being forced into situations I can’t get out of.” Being kidnapped. Enslaved. Abandoned. Publicly humiliated._

 

_“That’s fair,” Ben said with an earnest nod. “That’s one of my fears too. Especially if it’s a public confrontation—then, I really can’t defend myself or my own interests.”_

 

Rey snapped out of her memory, her heart _racing_ —only in worry and sympathy for Ben, of course. Here he was, trapped in a prime situation of his fear: a grand, public confrontation bound to cause humiliation and embarrassment.

 

But she was hopeful that he could overcome his fear and adhere to his morals.

 

Time seemed to stretch boundlessly, but the silence dwindled when tittering murmurs began to surface. “What’s taking him so long?” a whisper spread, “Solo would be kriffing mad to reject that five hundred Galleon bouquet!”

 

Snoke was growing similarly impatient, but her lips remained curved in a tight smile. Her eyes, however, told a completely different story; they grew minisculely wider, fierce and disapproving, a roaring wildfire blazing ferociously within.

 

Ben cleared his throat uncomfortably, glancing down at his lap to avoid the Hall’s rapt attention centered on him. His hand rose to wipe the beads of glistening sweat forming on his forehead. Finally, his eyes darted back to meet Snoke’s demanding gaze. “I—uh, I… sure—”

 

At this, the dining hall exploded in a magnificent uproar. Snoke squealed, the shadow of a smug grin flashing across her face briefly, before she leaned down to whisper in his ear. Around them, students showered their cheers and celebratory wishes.

 

Rey, on the other hand, felt like her stomach had plummeted into the deepest grounds of the dungeons, swooping and churning in a nauseating manner.

 

“I— I don’t feel so well…” Her words rush out in a choked whisper. Swirling, conflicting emotions filled her mind to the brim in an overwhelming ruckus. “I think I’m going to.. head back to my room…”

 

“Rey!” “Rey?” A chorus of concerned shouts followed her dash up the marble staircase.

 

But Finn and Rose were too slow to catch up. At the top of the staircase, Yoda’s portrait door slammed shut with vigor.

  


===

  


A loud blast of a whistle sounded, and fifteen brooms rose high into the air.

 

“And we’re off! The Quaffle is taken immediately by Rey Johnson of Slytherin—what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and she’s also the Head Girl too! Rumor has it that she and  Head Boy Ben Solo are planning _quite_ the festivities for Halloween in the week after next—”

 

“Do stay on topic please, Rebellis.”

 

“Sorry, Headmistress.”

 

A lively Gryffindor Sixth Year, Lindsay Rebellis, was doing commentary for the match, closely monitored by Headmistress Organa.

 

“And she’s really belting along up there, a neat pass to Jessika Pava, a Sixth Year Slytherin, last year only a reserve—back to Johnson and—no! The Ravenclaws have stolen the Quaffle.”

 

 _Bollocks_ , Rey cursed inwardly. She really should have seen that Ravenclaw headed her way for that sneaky interception.

 

“Ravenclaw’s Chaser Edwards gains the Quaffle and off he goes—he’s flying like an eagle up there, and he’s going to sc—no! She’s stopped by an excellently-timed Bludger sent his way by Slytherin Captain Gwen Phasma, and the Slytherins take back possession of the ball.”

 

Rey nodded to her two fellow Chasers as they flew into formation.

 

“Pava passes the Quaffle to Johnson, who sends it to the third Slytherin Chaser Lyra Wilcox, who often goes by the nickname ‘Waffles’—she makes a quick dive down—oh dear, there’s a Bludger heading her way, but no! Slytherin Beaters Phasma and Terex come to Waffles’ rescue, and Waffles cleanly passes to Johnson, speeding towards the goal post. Johnson’s flying fast—swerves right of Keeper Dopheld Mitaka—she shoots—she MISSES! The Quaffle bounced off the rim!”

 

Rey groaned, slapping her palm on her forehead. How could she have missed that shot? She was _right there_ , with a clear path!

 

“Ravenclaw quickly regains the Quaffle, Chaser Sandra Perperuna in possession. Rey Johnson seems to still be frustrated by her missed shot and is lingering by the goalposts. The Slytherin defense is slightly addled, so Perperuna has an open path ahead and off she goes—she ducks a speeding Bludger from Phasma—the goal posts are ahead—RAVENCLAW SCORES!”

 

Ravenclaw cheers filled the cold air, clouding over the howls and moans from the Slytherins.

 

“JOHNSON!” Phasma spurted towards Rey, pointing the Beater bat in her hand at Rey dangerously. “Where is your head today?”

 

“I… I don’t know. Sorry, Captain,” gulped Rey, “I promise it won’t happen again.”

 

“Make sure it doesn’t. I know you’re better than this, Rey.”

 

The Head Girl nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Tucking the Quaffle under her elbow, she pulled her broom upwards into the chilly gusts of wind.

 

“Chaser Johnson takes possession. She dodges a Bludger with a nifty turn, and—wow, what a feint! Johnson fakes out the entire Ravenclaw defense, and the field ahead is as clear as day…”

 

Rey could see the three empty goalposts. Blood pounded in her ears, her pale green Quidditch robe whipping in the harsh autumn winds as she hurtled forward. She narrowed her eyes, putting on an extra spurt of speed—

 

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Slytherin stand. Ravenclaw Seeker Roberta Davies had dived down from the air above to block her on purpose, causing Rey to drop the Quaffle. She grunted in anger and yanked her broom handle in the opposite direction—

 

“AND ANOTHER ONE FOR RAVENCLAW!”

 

—only to see that Ravenclaw had scored yet _again_.

 

At this, Rey slapped her thigh, _hard_. She didn’t care that there would be a stinging, red handprint there after the game. Nothing was going right for her in this match, and she _hated_ it.

 

“Get a grip of yourself, Rey,” she hissed to herself. She began to fly across the field to rejoin the Slytherin Chasers’ formation, before an unusual sight danced into the corner of her vision.

 

“There seems to be quite a commotion going on in the Ravenclaw stands—oh! That’s Gryffindor Arianna Snoke joining the Ravenclaws. I’m sure everyone saw her _extravagant_ manner of asking out Head Boy Ben Solo yester—”

 

“ _On topic_ means Quidditch only, Rebellis.”

 

“Sorry, Headmistress. Just thought I’d provide some relevant commentary.”

 

Rey turned her head to glimpse the figure of Arianna Snoke making her way into the Ravenclaw stands. Wearing a gold, glittery robe among a sea of blue, Snoke was easily conspicuous. It was difficult to distinguish the faces of the Ravenclaws from the Quidditch pitch, but Rey had a pretty good guess of who the tall, hulking silhouette Snoke seated herself beside was.

 

Gritting her teeth, Rey pelted forward with a renewed intensity. A multitude of emotions tangoed in her veins. The proud, ambitious serpent within Rey lifted, its fangs bared and sharpened, venom dripping endlessly into the hearts of her opponents.

 

“Slytherin Chaser Waffles soars forward with the Quaffle—passes to teammate Pava—a terrific catch there—Pava dodges a sneaky Bludger, darts forward, and heaves it to Chaser Johnson! Johnson swerves past the Ravenclaw Chasers—what a fancy double loop—dives past Keeper Mitaka—shoots—SLYTHERIN FINALLY SCORES!”

 

“Yes!” Rey let loose a cry of relief, throwing an enthusiastic fist-pump in the air.

 

“Ravenclaw’s Chaser Edwards snatches the Quaffle—dodges dual Bludgers sent by Phasma and Terex—passes it to—no! Rey Johnson bolts into the passing lane, intercepting the Quaffle. She speeds the other way, a completely clear path ahead—it’s just her and Ravenclaw Keeper Mitaka now—Johnson cocks her arm back— _hurls_ the ball—ANOTHER ONE! She threw the Quaffle so hard, _Mitaka fell backwards through the hoop trying to catch it!_ ”

 

The Slytherins cheered wildly.

 

With Rey’s newfound energy, Slytherin began its smackdown of Ravenclaw. The whole team felt lifted by her spirits and played with an unprecedented vigor. The three Chasers had never played better, their chemistry clicking on all gears as they scored goal after goal. The two Beaters played near-perfect defense, their bats violently smashing the Bludgers.

 

“Slytherin in possession,” commentator Lindsay Rebellis was saying, “Chaser Johnson ducks two Bludgers, and speeds towards the—wait a moment, was that the Snitch?”

 

A murmur of excitement ran through the crowd. Even Rey, who had been locked in on focus, dropped the Quaffle at the flash of gold that had fluttered by her left ear.

 

“Ravenclaw’s Roberta Davies and Slytherin’s Brigette Malarus dive downwards, chasing the stream of gold—the two Seekers are neck-and-neck right now! Davies puts on an extra burst of speed, inching forward ever so slightly—but Malarus has caught up too—oh, this is just too close to tell!”  

 

All the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing, hanging in midair to watch the tight battle.

 

“Both Seekers have their arms outstretched, but the Golden Snitch _just_ zooms out of their grasp—”

 

Rey bit down on her tongue to stop herself from screaming. “Come on, Brigette,” she whispered.

 

“—and she’s DONE IT! Malarus has caught the Snitch! In an utter _annihilation_ , Slytherin defeats Ravenclaw in the first Quidditch match of the season with a score of 510-160!”

 

The Slytherin stands erupted on its feet in an animated roar. Phasma immediately flew across the pitch, slamming her teammates in tight embraces.

 

“We did it!” yelled the Slytherin captain. “We bloody did it! Great job, each and every one of you!”

 

Rey whooped with joy, executing a couple of loop-the-loops to let off her emotions. Without realizing it, her eyes drifted to a certain spot in the Ravenclaw stands, expecting to see it occupied by two familiar figures.

 

Her victorious smirk fell—the spot was empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> 
> 
> Thank you to @lilithsaur for this INCREDIBLE art! Please go shower her with some love, all her art is brilliant. Original Tumblr post [here](http://lilithsaur.tumblr.com/post/178056575813/you-guys-might-recognize-this-pic-but-this-ones).
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Cameos: Say hi to Quidditch commentator [RebelRebel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelRebel) and Quidditch players [Perperuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perperuna) and [SpaceWaffleHouseTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM)!]
> 
> [The phrase “babbling, bumbling band of baboons” is a nod to this [legendary Professor McGonagall scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0a2ArTvUYI) from the Goblets of Fire movie.]
> 
> [Many users have been curious about Snoke’s placement in Gryffindor. First off, it takes balls to ask someone out like that. I think canon Snoke is very similar to Dumbledore in the books— a powerful figure, lots of scheming and plotting, very manipulative (and Dumbledore was a Gryffindor). I don't know enough from TFA and TLJ to fully judge Snoke's character, but I thought he would be in either Gryffindor or Slytherin; Gryffindor for the courage he had to execute his grand schemes / plans for the galaxy. I also didn't want to put Arianna Snoke in the same house as Rey, so Gryffindor it was.]
> 
> Thank you to my terrific beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com))!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
> **Please subscribe if you would like to continue reading! Comments and kudos are worth lots and lots of hugs <3 **


	11. Defodio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts celebrates Halloween! But Rey accidentally lets slip of her tongue and says something she really shouldn't have. Will Ben forgive her? And what is happening between him and Snoke? (Bonus: featuring a Space/Magical Darcy and Lizzy hand-touch moment.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Defodio_ \- to carve through a physical object with ease.]
> 
> Thank you to [nite0wl29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nite0wl29) for the wonderful moodboard below!
> 
> The Daily Prophet Comment of the Chapter Trophy goes to ladybex: _"::grumbles:: SNOKE"_

 

“You _sure_ you don’t want to come with us to Hogsmeade?” Rose asked tentatively, biting her lower lip.

Rey shook her head. “I can’t—I need to get everything ready for Halloween.”

“But that’s still days away,” Finn whined. “You can come join us for… two hours?”

“No.”

“One hour?”

“No.”

“Thirty minutes. That’s all we’re asking. Please, Rey?”

“No, it’s very generous of you two, but I really have a lot to do.”

“Okay then,” sighed Rose. Even the ever-so-stubborn Gryffindor recognized the losing battle here. She slid off the corner of Rey’s king-sized mattress and tugged on Finn’s hand. “We’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Rey.”

“Let us know if we can help in any way!”

Hearing her door snap shut with a metallic _click_ , Rey flopped backwards onto her bed with a heaving sigh of relief. She wasn’t lying—she did need to finish the Heads’ Halloween preparations.

But that wasn’t her only reason for not going to Hogsmeade.

The truth was, since Rey had witnessed Arianna Snoke’s grand gesture of asking Ben out (the Bouquet Bedlam, as she liked to call it) two days ago, her emotions have whipped up a tumultuous tempest. And she wasn’t even sure _why_. The adrenaline rush of the massive Quidditch beatdown had injected a frenzy of ecstasy into her bloodstream, but even that was merely a fleeting feeling.

Perhaps she was worried for Ben, and the unsettling vibes she felt from Snoke. Or, maybe Rey had grown used to her and Ben’s friendship due to their extended periods of time working together as class partners and school Heads… bloody hell, were they even...  _friends_? She considered him a friend—sort of—right? Yeah. She did. But… did he consider her as one?

Oh, all of this was making Rey’s head spin again.

In conclusion, the last thing Rey wanted to see today was Ben and Arianna at Hogsmeade.

Sitting cross-legged, she flipped open her notebook. Her thumb brushed through pages full of scrawled and messy scribbles, finally finding the page listing the prefects’ ideas for Halloween.

_Pumpkin carving contest…_  
_Glow-in-the-dark decorations…_  
_Pumpkin growing contest…_  
_Kissing booth…_

Wait, _what?_

The unmistakable image of Ben and Snoke snogging—his fingers raking through her long, blonde hair—popped into Rey’s mind.

The Head Girl groaned and covered her face with a pillow.

 

===

 

On Halloween morning, the students of Hogwarts woke up to the delicious aroma of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. The Heads and the prefects had worked tirelessly the night prior to perfect every detail of their plans for the big day, each tackling one task to undertake and complete.

In all the Charms classes, Professor Akbar entrusted his students to carve a pumpkin using the Gouging Charm _Defodio_. “A simple upward flick of your wrist, and you’ll dig out a perfect hole,” he demonstrated. “And don’t forget—the best carved pumpkin will be crowned tonight at the feast!”

Enchanted, glow-in-the-dark bats fluttered in the ceilings of the dungeons, while floating candles popped in and out of existence in the corridors. Fake blood oozed out of cracks in empty walls—which the Seventh Years found to be hilarious, the First Years less so.

Rey’s favorite part of the day was the trick-or-treating—magical style, of course—and setting it up was her primary responsibility. Inspired by the Muggle tradition, Rey stationed House Elves all throughout Hogwarts to periodically hand out candy during the day. She made sure to address the “trick” part as well, utilizing the help of Plagueis the Poltergeist. (Rey was now Plagueis’s favorite student.)

When evening dawned, the students of Hogwarts entered the Great Hall buzzing with excitement about the feast.

A thousand live bats swooped down from the walls and ceiling, and a thousand more hovered over the tables in low black clouds. The student-carved pumpkins lined the four long tables, buoyant candles illuminating them from within.

Rey, running hurriedly from across the castle where she had to calm down a House Elf who had been mobbed by an overeager group of Second Years for candy, was one of the last few to enter the Great Hall. She scanned the crowded room for her friends, finally noticing Rose dramatically waving both arms from the Gryffindor table.

“Over here!”

Rey walked briskly in her best friend’s direction. However, as she got closer, she noticed that the only empty seat at the table was smack in between Rose and one of the two people she had hoped to avoid all day.

“Evening, Snoke,” Rey greeted with a fake cheeriness as she sat down. “How was your day?”

“Oh, it was good. Thank you for asking. How was yours?”

“Also good! Thank you for asking.”

A beat of silence stretched between them.

Luckily, the feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. Rey rapidly piled heapings of food on her plate with gusto, and she quickly forgot about Snoke. She turned her ear to listen to Rose chatter about her Charms class—“I know pumpkins are supposed to scary and all, but I carved a smiley face into mine!”—but remained laser-focused on her food.

The Head Girl was just helping herself to a baked potato when Snoke interrupted her food-central daydream. “I saw you play in the match on Saturday,” Snoke commented. “You were really good.”

Rey’s fork dropped to her plate with a loud, echoing _clunk._

Perhaps Rey had been too quick to make judgments about the enigma that was Arianna Snoke. Besides their few brief conversations and fleeting moments of passing by each other in the corridors, Rey didn’t really know Snoke beyond her striking preference for glittery gold and her inexplicable zeal for history and legacies. Maybe Snoke was a kindhearted person who Rey just happened to stumble into on her worst days.

She decided to give Snoke another chance—a chance to properly know the Gryffindor better before imposing such negative judgments onto her character.

“Sorry—sorry—I’m just—uh—really clumsy,” Rey stammered, hastily covering up her disbelief at Snoke’s remark as she picked up her fork. “Thank you, that is very kind of you to say so.”

“You are welcome,” said Snoke. “Quidditch is a truly fascinating game.”

“It is! Do you play?”

“Merlin, _no_ ,” Snoke replied quickly, eyes widening in horror. “All the players and balls zooming around and what not. That’s just too fast for me. I would only watch from the stands.”

Rey hummed in halfhearted agreement. “I suppose, the pace can be quite tiring. I just wanted to spend the whole day after the match sleeping!”

“Exactly!” chuckled Snoke. “Speaking of the day after, did you go to Hogsmeade that day?”

Instantly, Rey’s smile slipped off her face. “No, I didn’t,” she said with clenched teeth.

“Oh, what a shame. You missed so much!”

“I heard. I was—busy, unfortunately,” Rey said tersely. Her mind wracked for new conversation topics to divert this line of discussion, to an inevitable topic she didn’t want to talk about.

But Snoke beat her to it.

“Ben and I had so much fun,” she gushed. “We strolled around Hogsmeade. Then Ben brought me to Madam Puddifoot’s—”

Of all the students at Hogwarts, Ben was the last person Rey would have expected to willingly step foot into that vile tea shop. She decided to stuff her mouth with an enormous spoonful of mashed potatoes, so she wouldn’t rudely blurt out her disdain for Madam Puddifoot’s.

“—and it was _fabulous_. There were little confetti hearts raining down from the ceiling, and we shared this _delightful_ red, heart-shaped cake with a gold sugar rose. Oh, isn’t Ben just the most _romantic_ boyfriend!”

Rey choked and sputtered, tiny, chewed pieces of mashed potatoes flying in all directions. Rose skillfully dodged them, while Snoke shrieked.

“Kriff, I’m so sorry,” Rey apologised automatically. But her mind was still latched onto Snoke’s earlier words. “So you two are official now?”

“Yes!” Snoke’s eyes lit up. “I didn’t expect it so soon, but he asked, and how could I say no?”

“Right… Of course you couldn’t…” Rey swallowed thickly, a lump growing in her throat that wasn’t there previously. She shoved the stirring tornado of emotions swirling within her ribcage down into the pit of her stomach. “Well then, I must wish you congratulations.”

 

===

 

“There you are.”

Rey raised her head up abruptly at the deep voice that greeted her. She quickly climbed through the portrait door to come face-to-face with the Head Boy. “Oh, hey. I didn’t… expect to see you here. I thought you were still at the feast.”

“I’ve been looking for you all day.” Ben paused, hesitant to speak his next words. “The last couple days, actually.”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that—I’ve been crazy busy—”

“No, I get that. And you did a really good job on all the Halloween stuff you were in charge of, especially the trick-or-treating.” Ben exhaled a deep breath, his brows drawing into a crease. “But this feels different. It almost feels like… you’re avoiding me. On _purpose_.”

“Thank you. I thought you did a wonderful job on your Halloween responsibilities as well,” Rey replied, carefully choosing to only respond to the first half of his remark.

His lips folded into a thin line. “I know what you’re trying to do, Rey, and it’s not working.” His gaze fell down to meet her wide, hazel orbs with a piercing intensity. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not—”

“I might be clueless, but I’m not dumb,” snapped Ben. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No!” exclaimed Rey. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Then why? _Why_ are you avoiding me?” he whispered.

Her eyes darted away from his concerned stare. “Fine, you’re right. I have been avoiding you,” admitted Rey.

“Thank you for being honest,” said Ben, “but I don’t understand why. I… I thought we were getting along pretty well. I thought we were…” A shadow of uncertainty crossed his clouded gaze. “... friends.”

Rey couldn’t stop the soaring wave of joy that swooped within her heart at his proclamation of friendship. “We are,” she agreed. “Don’t get me wrong. But I just felt that… it would be good to give you some space. Since you and Snoke—”

“Wait, _what?”_ he abruptly interrupted. “What does Arianna have to do with this?”

That wave of joy within Rey crashed into a wall, splattering into millions of droplets, at hearing Ben so casually refer to Snoke by her first name. The Gryffindor clearly meant a lot to him; after all, it had taken months (technically, _years_ ) before Rey and Ben were on a first-name basis.

“Well, I thought you would want to spend more time with her, and I didn’t want to take away from that. So I just… made myself scarce.”

“That is…” he stammered, stunned. “That is oddly thoughtful of you. And very stupid.”

Rey’s mouth fell open. “What?”

“I can choose how to spend my own time,” said Ben. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m old enough to decide who and when I want to spend time with.”

“I’m sorry. I, er, didn’t want to… impose upon you and Snoke. Especially since I never thought she’d choose someone like you to—”

“Someone like me?” He cocked his head to the side. “And, pray tell, what do you mean by that— _someone like me?”_

“Uh—”

“Just because I’m the quiet, nerdy Ravenclaw Ben Solo, you thought another girl couldn’t take interest in me?” His dark brown eyes ignited in a furious blaze, burning into her with an unceasing trail of wrathful embers.

Her eyes widened comically. “That’s not what I meant—I didn’t say _any_ of that!”

“But that’s you were thinking, right?”

Rey scrambled to respond. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to tell him, but no words came out of her mouth.

At her silence, he huffed, unsurprised. “Don’t bother denying it,” Ben quietly uttered.

Before Rey could deign to reply, he turned and strode towards his room. His hand stilled as he turned the knob; he twisted his neck to look back at her.

“I thought you were different, Rey.”

The door locked with a hollow _click_.

 

===

 

With the arrival of November came the first snow. On the second morning of the new month, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in feet of snow. A sheet of solid ice had replaced the shimmery waves of the Great Lake.

“Winter has come early this year,” Headmistress Organa remarked, staring out her window at the unceasing torrent of snow. The Quidditch Pitch was cloaked in a velvet blanket of feathery white, making it the perfect setting for students to set up snowball fights.

“It has,” agreed Rey.

Sitting next to her, Ben gave a stiff nod, choosing to remain wordless. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.

The headmistress returned to her chair, glancing at the two Seventh-Years seated across her desk. “Thank you two for meeting with me on this Thursday, even though it’s the first snow.”

“Of course, Headmistress. What did you call with this meeting for?”

“First, I would like to congratulate you both on a terrific effort in leading and organizing Halloween festivities.” Ben’s gaze jerked upwards at the headmistress’s praise. “I have heard nothing but glowing reviews from students and professors alike.”

“Thank you. We are glad to hear that,” Rey responded. In the corner of her vision, she saw Ben nod again; it seemed that he wasn’t inclined to speak during this meeting.

“The patrol incidents rate is at an all-time low, and I have only received minimal complaints from the prefects,” Headmistress Organa stated. “All in all, it seems you two have been doing an excellent job.”

Scarlet undertones blossomed on Rey’s cheeks.

“Generally speaking, how have your first two months as Head Girl and Head Boy been?”

Her innocuous, but loaded, question was greeted with silence. Rey and Ben glanced at each other, before quickly looking away. A cloud of icy tension shrouded them, almost choking the two.

“They’ve been fine,” answered Ben gruffly.

“They started out rough, but it’s good now,” Rey responded at the same time.

She could feel Ben’s withering glare fall on her. It was clear he wanted this meeting to end as soon as possible. Well, she would just have to disappoint him.

“Oh?” Leia observed them with attentive curiosity. “Why do you say that they ‘started out rough,’ Ms. Johnson?”

“We didn’t get along very well at the start,” Rey explained, “because we struggled to properly communicate and divert responsibilities. But we’ve gotten better at it.”

“Have we?” Ben chimed in. “You avoided me for days instead of _properly communicating_ —”

“That,” Rey muttered angrily, “wasn’t related to Head duties. And you’re one to talk, you’ve been doing the same thing lately—”

“Ah, Ben, I see you’re still stubborn as always,” Headmistress Organa commented. “ Did you know, when he was younger, he was always holding onto his stuffed porg toy? He carried it everywhere—we couldn’t tear it out of his arms when we had to undergo security checks in Muggle airports. He’s been stubborn since the day he was born.”

Rey giggled at the image of a tiny Ben clutching a porg plushie to his chest, refusing to let it go.

“With all due respect, _Headmistress_ ,” he gritted out, “I was under the impression that this was a professional meeting discussing our roles as Head Boy and Head Girl. Not about our _personal_ lives.”

“It’s clear to me that you both are doing wonderful jobs in your roles. Any problems you two have had, or may have, you seem capable of resolving yourself. What else is there to discuss?”

“Wonderful. In that case, I’ll head off now—”

“Sit _down_ , Benjamin.”

Ben plopped back down into his seat. Rey gaped at the headmistress; she had never seen anyone exhibit such command over Ben before.

Leia leaned forward, her stern brown eyes boring into her son’s nervous face. “So, Ben,” she stared coldly, though Rey swore she could see a twinkle in the Headmistress's eyes, “how was your date last weekend?”

“I—date—what?” Ben was a sputtering mess.

“Don’t try to hide it from me, all of Scotland saw Ms. Arianna Snoke ask you out on a Hogsmeade date,” Leia replied nonchalantly. “I’m your mother, and you’ve never been on a date before. So I want to know, how’d it go?”

“It wasn’t a _date_ ,” hissed Ben.

Rey’s eyebrows flew upwards.

“I may be old, but I’m not _that_ out of touch—asking someone to Hogsmeade is a date, Ben. Am I correct, Ms. Johnson?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Slytherin turned sideways to face him. “Snoke has been parading the details of your date to everyone she meets—you two had a cutesy, heart-shaped cake or something at Madam Puddifoot’s—”

“You went to Madam Puddifoot’s?” Leia interrupted, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

The tips of Ben’s ears flushed red. “Yes,” he mumbled reluctantly.

A bark of laughter reverberated through his mother, joyful and deep, her head thrown back. “Oh, Merlin!” Leia guffawed. “That’s quite a date alright.”

Ben abruptly stood up, so quickly that his chair fell backwards on the carpeted floor. Pivoting on his heels, he rapidly stormed out of the room, a deep scowl etched on his face.

“Ah, the boy is too easy to tease…” said Headmistress Organa. “Thanks for meeting with me, Rey. I’d like to talk to you both again in… a month, let’s say?”

 

===

 

Later that night, after an _oh-so-very-cold_ Quidditch practice, Rey returned to an empty common room with her broomstick clutched in hand. The glass of the half-open window rattled in the eerie echoes of the winter breezes, while barren tree branches outside scratched against the building.

She placed her hand on the doorknob, ready to enter her bedroom, when she heard the familiar creak of floorboards from Ben’s room. Hollow, echoing footsteps ensued; it was clear that he was currently in his room.

Rey was suddenly possessed with an overwhelming urgency to talk to Ben; to clear up whatever tension it was that had arisen between them. Her guilt over her unintended comment had been amplified by the Heads meeting with the headmistress earlier today, from Ben’s outburst about her lack of communication to his dramatic departure.

Her feet carried her forward to his door. “Ben?”

The wooden door inched open. Ben leaned against the doorframe, his forehead creased in confusion. “Uh… hi?”

“Hey, er, can I talk to you for a bit?”

He tilted his head to the side, wordlessly pushing the door further open. Rey shrugged, deciding that was an implicit yes, and plopped down on his bed.

“What do you want to… talk about?” Ben nervously pushed his glasses up higher up his nose bridge, his still protuberant eyes trained closely upon her every movement.

She inhaled deeply, gazing at the Head Boy. Thin-rimmed reading glasses hung askew on his face. How had Rey never noticed how his glasses illuminated his dark, hickory eyes in even greater focus?

“I wanted to apologize.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“I didn’t mean what I implied that day… the words just came out wrong—”

“They ‘just came out wrong’?” he repeated incredulously. “In other words, you still meant what you said.”

“No, Ben, wait—” She bit down on her lower lip, frantically shaking her head. “Let me explain—”

“It’s fine, I don’t want you to associate yourself with ‘someone like me’. Honestly.” He inched the door forward, slowly at first, before shoving it with a hard _slam._

A fresh wave of regret flowed inside her, choking and stifling her.

Rey’s hand shot out to twist the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. The same happened to the connecting door from the bathroom—no matter how hard she tugged and pulled and twisted, it wouldn’t budge.

_There has to be something I could do._

The glass window panes glittered under silver beams of moonlight. Peering at the half-open window, then back down at the TIE Flyer broomstick still clutched in her grip, Rey had a plan.

 

===

 

“HEY!” she screamed into the howling wind. “OPEN UP!” Her knuckles rapped on the cold, hard shell of the window repeatedly.

Finally, Ben stepped forth to his window. He shoved the window pane open with his two hands. “Are you bloody mad?” he cried, his hair whipping around in a strong gust of wind. “What are you _doing?”_

“Trying to talk to you!”

“I don’t—” Ben’s words were instantly engulfed by the wind. He took a deep breath, bellowing, “I really don’t think this is the best way to talk, you might die in this weather!”

“Well, you threw a tantrum, you shut your bedroom door, and you locked the door from the bathroom. How else can I talk to you?”

“Rey, I’m serious. You might fall to your death before we even finish this conversation.”

“Then come talk to me,” she pleaded, “or else I’ll yell my entire apology from outside your window, in this weather, wobbling on my TIE Fighter.”

Ben stared at her with wide, beseeching eyes. She stared back, unblinking. Rey imagined she looked like a ridiculous sight— sprawling hair sticking up at odd angles and smacking her in the face, a black cloak messily draped over her pajamas, barefoot, all while hovering on a broomstick outside his window, thirty meters above the ground.

Finally, he heaved a deep, long sigh. “Fine. Let’s talk.”

Rey’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t expected him to acquiesce so quickly; this was certainly a surprise, to be sure, but quite a welcome one. She gripped her broomstick handle, preparing to jump off the broomstick and tumble through his window. “Great— wait, where are you going?”

He backed away from the window and faded into the shadows of his bedroom. Rey felt her stomach plummet; honestly, she should have been used to the feeling of others letting her down. She was right about to kick off the windowsill and return to her room, when he emerged by the window again, a black and red striped Starfighter clutched in his grip.

“Why’d you get your broomstick?”

“Didn’t you want to talk?” Ben replied, confused. "Let's go before I change my mind."

“I thought—” Rey halted her rambling admission that she had expected to talk in his room, or their common room. Who was she to deprive the rarity of watching Ben Solo fly? A wide grin blossomed across her lips. “Never mind. Let’s fly to the Quidditch pitch, it’s probably empty right now so no one can eavesdrop.” She then peered at Ben closely. “You think you can make it there?”

He nodded. "It's… been a while, but I'm pretty sure my flying is still decent enough to get to the pitch."

“Awesome,” she cheered, bracing her grip, “I’ll take it easy so you can keep up—”

In one swift motion, Ben leaped out of his window and landed gracefully on his broomstick. Riding the momentum of his jump, he immediately grabbed his broom handle and sped into a nosedive, leaving Rey floating by the castle tower by herself, her face frozen in shock.

"Show off," she muttered with a grin. "Don't leave me behind!"

"Between the two of us, I don't think the Quidditch player should be the one in last place!"

Rey didn't need to see his face to know that he said that with his signature smirk: the tiny, arrogant upward quirk of the corner of his lips that she always wanted to slap off his face.

_Challenge accepted._

She drove her broom downwards, speeding towards the Quidditch pitch. The unclasped flaps of her cloak whipped dangerously against the wind, threatening to slip off at any second, but Rey was too exhilarated by the feeling of flying to care.

A triple loop swerve later—executed solely for the purpose of reminding somebody who's the better flier here—Rey glided smoothly onto the pitch, her bare feet skidding the shriveling blades of grass. “You're really good at flying,” she remarked. “I can't believe you've been hiding that skill from all of Hogwarts for so long. If only you were in Slytherin—”

“And I will stop that vile, horrendous thought right there,” Ben interrupted with a mock shudder of disgust. “But thank you. You're not so bad at flying yourself.”

Rey stuck out her tongue in response. “Alright, Mr. Overinflated Ego. Have you ever done a loop before?”

His proud grin faded. “No,” he said instantly, shaking his head furiously. “Unlike some people, Rey, I do not have a bloody death wish.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “I'll take that as a compliment, thank you very much. But, no, I don't have a death wish. It's just something fun I like to practice.”

"Fun? You and I have very different definitions of fun."

Rey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I personally wouldn’t call Madam Puddifoot’s fun.”

Ben whipped his head around to face her. Unreadable emotions danced across his eyes like imperishable, flickering flames. A ghostly silence stretched between them, wrapping them in the eerie howls of the November winds, when her words finally sunk in.

She clapped her palm to her mouth. _So much for apologizing. Good job, Rey. Really, well done._ “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, that was… too soon.” Lips clenched in a tight line, he looked down, closely examining his broom handle like it was the most interesting treasure in the world. “You wanted to come here to talk,” he said coldly, “so talk.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey began. “I’m sorry for what I said just now. I’m sorry for what I said earlier, implying that you didn’t seem like someone Snoke would want to be with or whatever I said.”

Ben gazed up at her, listening intently with rapt attention.

“And I know that… I keep saying that to you. That I’m sorry. So much that it probably sounds like two empty words at this point. But I genuinely mean it.” Rey took a deep breath. “Somehow… around you, I say a lot of mean things. Hurtful things. And they’re all things I don’t actually mean.”

“Then why do you say them?”

She bit her lip nervously, struggling to explain. “I… I honestly don’t know. Perhaps— er— maybe it’s because you’re nothing like what I expected.”

“Me?” he repeated, bewildered. “How so?”

“You’re—” _Kind. Supportive. Intelligent. Observant. Eloquent. Witty. Organized. So oblivious to your surroundings and your fan club that it’s almost cute._ “—a good person, Ben. You’re an inspiring leader—just look at how all the prefects love and respect you—”

He opened and closed his mouth, a faint blush creeping up his neck.

“—I guess, overall, you're not the one dimensional arse I thought you were. I didn't know you that well until this year, but I thought I did—from the hostile arguments we had when we were young, foolish children. And my brain never recognized that you've grown up. I have been stuck with old prejudices, which is unfair to you. So I'm really sorry for everything.”

He glanced at her when her heartfelt apology concluded, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “I understand that. You’ve been nothing like what I expected either.”

"Yeah, I can see why…" She smiled weakly.

“What you said about me a few days ago was painful to hear,” he admitted, “but it's true.”

“No it's not,” Rey denied. “You're a great person. Why shouldn't any girl be attracted to you?”

“Because not every girl is attracted to me,” he said with a hollow laugh. “Honestly, I don't know where this thing with Snoke is going. It's barely started.” Rey took note that he referred to Smoke by her last name. “It's just… nice to be liked by someone. And we'll see where things take us.”

Rey bit back her retort that Snoke didn't seem to merely _like_ him; perhaps a better verb to use was _obsess_ and _fantasize_. She nodded at his words in understanding.

“Look, we’ve both thrown a lot of hurtful words at each other, that neither of us had probably meant, in the last six years,” Ben murmured. “What if we… put all that behind us?”

She jerked her head up, her eyes meeting his. Ben simply never ceased to surprise her. “I would like that,” she whispered with a small smile. “Let’s forget everything and… start on a clean slate. Nice to meet you, I’m Rey.”

“Hi Rey, I’m Ben,” he played along. “But I’m not going to forget _everything._ Like the fact that I kicked your ass in flying—”

“That is so not true,” she barked back in jest. “But you know what? I'm going to teach you to do a loop.”

“What—right now?”

“Yep!” exclaimed Rey. “Put your right hand there, and—”

“No, no, no, no, no—” He punctuated each word with a shake of his head, his left eye doing an ever so slight twitch. “I'm not doing this, Johnson.”

Rey chewed on her cheek in thought. His fear was evident, but she had full confidence Ben could execute one. But perhaps that was for another day.

“Okay,” she replied, disheartened.

“What if… what if you take me on your broom when you do a loop?” he tentatively suggested. “When I was younger, my father would let me ride on the back with him when he practiced fast dives and stuff.”

She perked up. “We can do that,” she said with a grin. “I'm pretty sure my broom can handle our joint weight.”

“... Only 'pretty sure'?”

“Hey, you're the one who suggested this. All danger falls on you.” At her words, Ben's eyes blew open in fear (and perhaps regret?). “Don't be scared. I won't let you fall. Do you trust me?”

“You're borderline insane when you fly… I'm not sure I do…”

Rey grinned. “Climb on and sit behind me.” She scooted forward and turned her head. “No, not that far back, you're going to fall off the broom if you sit there.”

“Er—”

“I promise I don't bite, Ben. Sit forward, closer to me,” she commanded. “Feel free to hold onto me when we're flying.”

“... Are you sure?” Rey didn't need to turn around to know he was flustered. “No, I'm sure I'll be fine.”

“Whatever you say!” She dug her heels into the grass and pushed off. “Here we go!”

Ben instantly wrapped his arms around her waist, clinging to her for dear life. “You should have given me a heads up,” he screamed into the wind.

“Okay,” Rey screamed back. “Here is your heads up we're about to dive down and do a loop!”

He took a quick intake of breath as the broom darted down, burying his face in her shoulder. His eyes shut tight: he didn't want to watch his impending death.

Rey widened her eyes, startled. She felt his locks of hair tickle her neck and barely suppressed her instinct to look back.

His tight grip on her waist and the pressure in her shoulder was not what she had envisioned when she said "feel free to hold on to me," but Rey realized she didn't mind. It was comforting, a warm feeling, to be hugged and protected by the wave of heat that was Ben Solo.

She leaned forward, pressing into her broomstick, before jerking the handle upwards at a right angle.

For a few, brief moments, Rey and Ben hung upside-down in the air. It was a feeling like no other—gazing down on the universe, from the vantage point of the midnight sky; it made her feel like she was flying among the stars themselves.

Then—too soon, in Rey’s opinion—they returned to an upright position. Instead of flying back down to the pitch, however, she decided to steer them back to the tower.

Finally, they came to a halt, softly hovering outside of Ben’s window.

“So… how was it?” Rey asked. Her eyes darted to him, eagerly awaiting his reaction. She flicked her wrist and wordlessly summoned Ben’s broom.

“That was—” he paused to catch his breath. “That was actually really fun. The single moment where we were dangling upside down—that was incredible.”

His Starfighter zoomed into Rey’s grasp, who handed it to the Head Boy with an excited grin. “I’m really happy you liked it! Told you we wouldn’t die.”

Ben beamed at her. “Well, thank you for not letting us plummet to our deaths.” He gingerly climbed off her broom, legs perched on his windowsill. “Can you—uh—give me a hand?”

Rey hurriedly offered her hand out, which Ben grasped as he precariously balanced on one leg to clamber through the window. She couldn’t help but notice that his hand engulfed hers; but before she could observe any further, the warmth of his hand departed, and he stood in his room, fully facing her.

“Have a good night, Rey. Thanks… for tonight.”

She dropped her hand to her side, her fingertips still tingling from the brief touch. “Good night, Ben.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  [I’m just going to drop this GIF here, for the very last paragraph of this chapter.]
> 
> [[Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Madam_Puddifoot%27s_Tea_Shop) was a small tea shop located in Hogsmeade Village. It was described by Harry Potter as the haunt of happy couples.]
> 
> Thank you to my incredibly supportive beta [INTPSlytherin_reylove97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTPSlytherin_reylove97) ([@intp-slytherin97](https://intp-slytherin97.tumblr.com)). Without her, I could not have written and finished this chapter.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr ([@reylocalligraphy](https://reylocalligraphy.tumblr.com)) and Twitter ([@reylocallig](https://twitter.com/reylocallig))!
> 
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